THE  PHILOSOPHY 
CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION 


GEORGE  STEPHEN  PAINTER 


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THE  PHILOSOPHY 
OF  CHRIST  S  TEMPTATION 

A  Study  in   Interpretation 


2i06ic,hi  Vi& 


BY 
GEORGE  STEPHEN  PAINTER,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Philosophy  in  New  York  State  College 
Author  of  "Herbert  Spencer's  Evolutionstheorie." 


BOSTON 

SHERMAN,  FRENCH  &  COMPANY 

1914 


copybioht,  1914 
Sherman,  Frekch  &  Company 


TO 
THE  MEMORY  AND  HONOR  OF 
MY  FATHER  AND  MOTHER 
WHOSE  GODLY  ADMONITIONS 
FIRST  GUIDED  MY  FEET  IN 
THE  PATHS  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS 


PREFACE 

Our  Christian  conceptions  of  religion  are  based 
primarily  upon  the  Bible  as  the  canon  of  our  sa- 
cred literature.  This  literature  is  one,  but  the 
interpretation  of  its  meaning  and  implications 
have  been  many.  Unfortunately,  in  our  time 
there  has  been  a  rather  slavish  following  of  tradi- 
tion in  thought  instead  of  a  coming  to  first-hand 
consideration  of  the  problems.  This  process  may 
have  resulted  in  inculcating  truth,  but  it  has  like- 
wise been  the  means  of  perpetuating  error,  and 
has  issued  in  general  barrenness  of  thought. 

We  may  reasonably  assume  that  there  is  a  unity 
of  truth  in  this  literature  if  we  may  but  attain  to 
it.  It,  however,  makes  no  pretense  at  a  system- 
atic or  organic  presentation  of  thought,  but  is 
rather  a  mosaic  made  up  of  isolated  incidents,  or 
a  compilation  of  disconnected  conceptions.  Ac- 
cordingly, there  is  the  perennial  need  of  rationally 
presenting  an  orderly  system  of  doctrine;  that 
is,  a  philosophy  of  religion  is  the  ultimate  demand 
of  thought.  But  we  shall  find  that  this  is  a  seri- 
ous matter,  dependent  upon  the  science  of  inter- 
pretation, which  is  as  complex  and  extensive  as  the 
problem  of  knowledge  itself.  And  the  fulness  of 
human  experience  and  the  demands  of  reason  must 
stand  as  the  criterion  of  final  validity. 


PREFACE 

Our  aim  has  been  to  set  forth  the  leading  prin- 
ciples of  interpretation,  and  to  trace  concretely 
their  application  in  the  record  of  Christ's  "  Temp- 
tation," wliich  will  be  found  rich  in  suggestion  as 
well  as  illustrative  of  the  difficulties  involved. 

G.  S.  P. 
Rome,  Italy 

August  12,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     Introduction 1 

II  Principles    of    Interpretation       .      .  27 

III     Spiritual   Primacy 6S 

IV  The   Secret  of  Solitude      ....  99 

V     Temptation 127 

VI     The   Devil 165 

VII  Temptation  of  Sensuousness     .      .      .  207 

VIII  Temptation  of  Selfishness        .      .      .  241 

IX  Temptation  of   Sovereignty      .      .      .  273 

X     Life    Triumphant 307 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 


"  Read  not  to  contradict  and  confute,  nor  to  be- 
lieve and  take  for  granted,  nor  to  find  talk  and  dis- 
course, but  to  weigh  and  consider." 

Lord  Bacon,  Essays  ("  Of  Studies  "). 

"  To  thine  own  self  be  true, 
And  it  must  follow  as  the  night  the  day, 
Thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man." 

Shakespeare,  "  Hamlet,"  Act  I,  Sc.  iii. 

"  Let  not  the  authority  of  the  writer  offend  you, 
whether  he  be  of  great  or  small  learning:  but  let  the 
love  of  pure  truth  draw  you  to  read." 

Thomas  a  Kempis,  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  I,  V,  1. 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

The  recorded  "  Temptation  "  of  Christ  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  creations  of  religious  lit- 
erature. It  is  noteworthy,  both  in  form  and  con- 
tent. If  it  be  thought  of  purely  as  literature,  it 
is  a  classic,  worthy  to  be  placed  beside  the  finest 
examples ;  but  when  we  consider  further  that  it 
represents  the  supreme  moral  trial  of  him  who  is 
recognized  as  the  world's  greatest  ethical  teacher 
and  the  most  perfect  character  of  history,  of 
whom  it  is  written  he  "  was  tempted  in  all  points 
like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin,"  ^  it  gains  the  pro- 
foundest  possible  significance  and  the  most  ab- 
sorbing interest.  If  for  no  other  reason,  it  would 
be  a  matter  of  supreme  concern  to  us  all  to  know 
what  temptation  would  mean  in  so  noble  a  life,  and 
just  how  it  was  overcome  in  so  great  a  soul. 
There  is  nothing  more  powerful  or  salutary  among 
men  than  the  example  of  an  exalted  life. 

Whatever  men  may  think  concerning  the  meta- 
physical or  divine  attributes  of  Christ,  one  thing 
must  be  granted,  namely,  that  he  possessed  a  real 
moral  nature  of  the  highest  character.     He  ac- 

iHeb.  4:15. 

3 


4  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

cordingly  undenvent  a  genuine  temptation.  We 
may,  indeed,  suppose  that  he  possessed  the  most 
perfect  ethical  endowment.  This  would  neces- 
sarily imply  that  he  had  the  absolute  power  within 
him  of  freely  choosing  and  doing  the  wrong, — 
that  is,  the  actual  ability  to  commit  sin.  For  had 
he  been  lacking  in  this  potentiality  he  would  not 
have  been  even  a  moral  being.  The  ethical  nature 
implies  equal  freedom  and  power  to  be  and  to  do 
both  good  and  evil.  But  in  order  to  have  attained 
the  morally  perfect,  which  is  the  highest  ideal  of 
ethical  existence,  he  likewise  must  have  been  able  to 
overcome  the  extremest  possible  temptations ;  for 
anything  less  than  this  would  have  come  short  of 
moral  perfection.  Perfect  moral  character  re- 
quires the  fullest  freedom  and  most  awakened  con- 
scious power  to  do  and  to  be  evil,  and  yet,  in  the 
exercise  of  such  freedom,  to  freely  choose  and  do 
only  the  good.  That  such  high  attainment  is  a 
possibility  must  be  granted;  otherwise  we  would 
have  to  consider  the  fullness  of  the  moral  func- 
tion as  incapable  of  being  realized ;  and  this  in 
turn  is  to  nullify  the  very  notion  of  freedom  on 
which  all  morality  rests. 

In  the  instance  of  Christ's  temptation  we  have 
before  us  an  illustration  of  the  most  exalted  moral 
spirit  the  world  has  known  face  to  face  with  the 
most  powerful  impulses  to  the  grossest  sins ;  the 
very  highest  is  tempted  to  become  the  very  lowest ; 
the  supremely  good  is  impelled  to  the  infamously 
bad,  and  yet  in  it  all  remaining  sublimely  trium- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  9 

pliant.  And  it  is  in  the  overcoming  of  temptation 
that  we  reach  the  real  test  of  character.  In  moral 
perfection,  Paradise  is  regained.  Consequently, 
in  the  life  of  Christ  we  have  the  ideal  realization 
of  man's  fairest  dream.  The  moral  heroism  and 
power  manifest  by  him,  as  he  withstood  the  buf- 
fctings  of  every  evil  passion  that  can  sway  the 
souls  of  men,  has  stood  out  through  the  ages  as 
the  most  inspiring  and  quickening  example  of 
righteous  endeavor  in  the  history  of  mankind.  It 
is  a  tragic  situation  to  see  Christ,  allured  by  all 
the  seductions  of  popular  Messianism,  steadfastly 
renunciate  whatever  might  tend  to  make  him  de- 
viate from  the  course  marked  out  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  heart.  He  rejected  tradition  to  follow 
his  own  inner  consciousness.  When  all  men  failed 
him  he  turned  to  God :  "  Father,  not  my  will  but 
thine  be  done."  Because  of  his  complete  self- 
abnegation  he  attained  the  great  freedom  of  spirit 
and  impartiality  of  judgment  which  mark  his  in- 
terpretation of  events  and  the  issues  of  life.  His 
seems  to  have  been  the  truly  sane  and  rational 
mind  as  well  as  the  superbly  moral.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  Christ  really  shared  the  delusions  and 
superstitions  of  his  times.  It  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  sovereign  spirit  which  created  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  could  have 
been  in  sympathy  with  the  popular  faiths  in  de- 
moniacal possessions,  magic,  and  miracles,  which 
were  so  common  in  his  day.  It  is  not  easy  to 
think  that  he  who  urged  with  such  insistence  the 


6  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

infallible  law  of  requital,  that  *'  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  could  have  given 
credence  concerning  much  that  is  reported  about 
him.  It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  Christ 
wrote  nothing  concerning  himself ;  his  thought 
and  acts  were  interpreted  by  a  credulous  age  in 
the  spirit  of  its  own  presuppositions.  Immense 
quantities  of  legendary  story  grew  up  in  the  tradi- 
tions concerning  him,  and  doubtless  some  matter 
of  this  character  crept  into  the  accepted  canonical 
Gospels.  In  any  circumstance  his  aim  was  to  es- 
tablish a  religion  of  free  spirit  and  pure  morality 
from  inner  consciousness. 

The  story  of  the  "  Temptation  "  is  in  the  form 
of  an  ethical  drama.  It  is  fraught  with  intense 
passion  and  force  of  action.  The  mightiest  im- 
pulses of  the  soul  are  brought  into  full  play ;  every 
possible  ambition  and  gratification  are  typified ; 
all  the  passions  within  the  compass  of  man's  emo- 
tional nature  are  stirred.  It  is  most  certainly 
cast  in  the  real  mold  of  human  nature,  and  is  true 
to  life.  The  drama  may  be  said  to  be  the  natural 
form  of  literature.  In  its  simplest  expression  it 
consists  of  dialogue,  or  the  conversation  and  ac- 
tions of  two  or  more  persons,  as  in  the  common 
colloquy  of  everyday  life.  In  its  highest  realiza- 
tion, as  in  ^sculus  and  Shakespeare,  it  becomes 
the  most  powerful  agency  of  thought.  Histor- 
ically, all  primitive  literature  was  largely  of  this 
character.  Even  God  is  represented  as  holding 
converse  with  men :     "  God  did  tempt  Abraham, 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  7 

and  said  unto  him,  Abraham :  and  he  said,  Behold, 
here  I  am."  ^  Later  literature  tends  to  take  on 
a  more  reasoned  and  prosaic  form.  In  the  New 
Testament  times,  for  example,  God  is  no  more  rep- 
resented as  speaking  directly  with  man,  but  the 
Word  becomes  flesh,  and  speaks  literally  with  hu- 
man lips ;  and  whenever  there  is  a  message  come 
out  of  the  invisible,  it  is  thought  a  "  voice  from 
heaven,"  or  an  *'  angel  said  unto  them  "  thus  and 
so ;  but  the  colloquial  and  dramatic  form  prevails 
even  here. 

The  drama  is  the  most  powerful  form  of  litera- 
ture, for  the  reason  that  it  brings  into  play,  not 
only  the  passive  and  reflectional  aspects  of  the  in- 
tellect, but  also  the  quickening  force  of  the  emo- 
tions and  the  dynamic  activities  of  the  will. 
That  is,  the  drama  seeks  to  portray  life  as  living, 
the  world  in  action.  The  Book  of  Job  is  our  most 
extensive  religious  drama.  In  it,  God  and  Satan 
bargain  with  one  another,  just  as  in  the  story  of 
the  "  Temptation  "  Christ  and  the  devil  are  repre- 
sented as  doing.  Biblical  literature  naturally  is 
fashioned  after  the  conceptions  of  the  ancient 
world ;  we  might  expect,  therefore,  that  much  of  it 
would  require  interpretation  into  modern  meaning, 
or  translation  into  terms  of  experience  with  which 
we  are  familiar.  It  is  doubtless  because  of  the 
form  of  expression  used,  taken  apart  from  the 
circumstances  or  customs  which  gave  them  cur- 
rency,  that   such   irrationalities   result   among  us 

2  Gen.  22:1. 


8  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

in  our  attempts  at  explanation.  Biblical  litera- 
ture is  largely  poetical  in  conception,  if  not  in 
form,  and  so  long  as  we  consider  it  as  such  its  su- 
preme significance  is  apparent;  but  when  we  at- 
tempt to  translate  poetry  into  the  exact  expres- 
sion of  literal  fact,  or  give  it  scientific  meaning, 
we  are  in  danger  of  reducing  it  to  nonsense.  Poe- 
try is  preeminently  the  language  of  the  soul,  and 
like  music  and  other  forms  of  art,  alone  can  give 
expression  to  the  deeper  spiritual  life.  The  pro- 
foundest  experiences  of  the  soul  can  not  find  a 
voice  in  words,  but  can  only  be  suggested  by  anal- 
ogy and  similes ;  we  are  under  the  obligation  of 
expressing  things  that  are  invisible  and  eternal  by 
images  that  are  finite  and  actual.  For  this  rea- 
son figurative  and  poetical  language  best  meets 
our  religious  needs.  As  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold 
has  told  us :  "  We  have  to  turn  to  poetry  to  in- 
terpret life  for  us,  to  console  us,  to  sustain  us."  ^ 
Poetry  is  the  best  vehicle  of  the  universal  truth, 
and  meets  with  the  most  immediate  response  and 
sympathy.  Christ  was  the  poet  par  excellence, 
and  for  that  reason  the  common  people  heard  him 
gladly,  while  the  literalists  failed  entirely  to  un- 
derstand him.  Religion  is  poetry.  It  finds  its 
expression  in  symbols,  imagination,  and  feeling. 
It  seeks  to  appeal  to  reason  by  the  clearness  of  its 
conceptions,  but  not  without  stirring  the  moral 
emotions.  Reason  and  emotion  compose  true  poe- 
try, and  true  religion. 

3  "Essays":    "The  Study  of  Poetry." 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  9 

The  story  of  the  "  Temptation,"  in  form  at 
least,  is  a  literary  work  of  art  with  a  religious 
purpose.  It  aims  not  so  much  to  record  historic 
fact  as  to  teach  great  moral  and  religious  truths. 
It  exhibits  the  ethical  nature  in  the  full  compass 
of  its  possibilities,  and  shows  its  vast  significance 
for  the  religious  life.  It  pictures  the  soul's  inner 
struggle  for  self-realization.  It  makes  manifest 
the  fact  that  religion  is  psychological  in  origin 
and  character.  As  Sabatier  has  said :  "  Re- 
ligion is  simply  the  subjective  revelation  of  God 
in  man,  and  revelation  is  religion  objective  in 
God."  Religion  is  in  fact  the  profoundest  ex- 
pression of  the  life  of  individuals  and  of  nations. 
It  is  older  in  the  history  of  the  race  than  science 
or  philosophy,  and  far  more  universal ;  indeed,  it 
is  the  mother  of  science  and  philosophy.  No  peo- 
ple have  ever  been  without  a  religion,  and  probably 
never  will  be.  The  real  question,  therefore,  that 
concerns  men  is  as  to  the  kind  or  quality  of  re- 
ligion they  shall  possess.  In  order  to  be  anything 
for  reflective  thought  religion  requires  philosophic 
statement.  In  acquiring  such  rational  form  it 
has  had  to  meet  with  critical  opposition.  But  re- 
ligion can  have  no  just  claim  to  exemption  from 
criticism;  for  without  intelligent  grounds  it  is 
sheer  superstition  and  unworthy  of  notice.  In  re- 
ligion, as  in  all  realms  of  thought,  we  must  give 
reasons  for  the  faith  that  is  within  us.  A  philos- 
ophy of  religion  is  the  ultimate  demand  of 
thought. 


10  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

To  understand  the  meaning  and  import  of  re- 
ligious experience  and  literature  is  the  problem 
of  interpretation.  But  this  is  a  complex  matter. 
The  Bible,  for  example,  is  a  growth  of  the  cen- 
turies, a  composite  of  traditions,  laws,  customs, 
history,  drama,  proverbs,  poetry,  prophecy,  nar- 
rative, doctrine,  acts,  epistles,  and  visions,  each 
serving  its  own  function,  and,  in  order  to  be  under- 
stood, must  be  approached  in  its  own  spirit  and 
mood.  The  literature  itself  is  a  fixed  thing;  the 
trouble  is  that,  with  a  certain  warrant,  it  may 
admit  of  several  different  interpretations.  The 
basal  facts  underlying  it  doubtless  go  back  to 
original  experience ;  but  the  literary  medium  of 
expression  gives  us  difficulty.  Much  of  the  data 
seems  to  have  been  badly  understood  and  imper- 
fectly reported,  which  in  many  instances  leaves  a 
condition  of  great  uncertainty.  But  no  historic 
phenomenon,  since  it  is  always  conditioned, 
can  ever  have  the  characteristics  of  the  abso- 
lute. Such  literature,  therefore,  at  best,  can 
only  symbolize  the  real  truth.  History  is  but 
an  idealization  of  the  actual.  The  life  of 
Christ  can  be  seen  only  through  an  imperfect 
medium.  Our  oldest  existing  manuscripts  of  the 
Gospels  only  go  back  to  the  latter  part  of  the 
fourth  century;  a  few  quotations  by  early  writers 
go  back  to  the  third  or  even  second  century,  but 
differ  in  very  many  points  from  anything  in  our 
extant  manuscripts.  Textual  criticism  shows 
that   neither   history    nor  tradition   has   been   in- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  11 

fallibly  transmitted  to  us.     Christ  has  been  his- 
torically idealized. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  all  literature  to  idealiza- 
tion and  universalization.  This  seems  to  be  a 
necessity  of  the  generalizing  process  of  the  mind. 
Thought  breaks  down  under  the  mass  of  specific 
detail,  and  therefore  casts  aside  all  but  the  most 
salient  features,  in  their  broadest  outline.  It 
seizes  upon  the  chief  characteristics  of  a  given 
subject,  and  even  magnifies  them  for  its  own  pur- 
poses. General  notions  thus  become  symbols  for 
all  possible  individual  cases.  This  is  necessary 
for  thought,  because  only  the  universal  or  the 
ideal  can  possibly  be  inclusive  of  and  applicable 
to  all  particulars.  But  religion,  from  its  very 
nature,  must  be  universal  in  its  conception;  other- 
wise it  could  not  be  true.  In  order  to  meet  the 
conditions  of  a  world-religion  Christianity  must 
find  expression  in  terms  of  the  ideal ;  its  doctrines 
must  be  universally  valid  principles.  This  ideal- 
izing character  of  literature  is  well  illustrated  in 
the  portrait  we  have  of  IMoses ;  only  his  great  acts, 
which  had  enduring  significance,  were  recorded  of 
him,  and  his  defects  were  all  blended  out ;  in  brief, 
we  have  an  idealized  Moses.  In  like  manner  the 
characters  and  events  recorded  in  the  Gospels  are 
idealized  and  lifted  up  into  the  realm  of  the  uni- 
versal. Both  tradition  and  literature  bear  for- 
ward facts  only  in  outline  and  retain  only  their 
spiritual  significance.  And  invariably  distance 
lends  enchantment  to  the  view.     It  is  only  after 


12  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

centuries  have  passed  that  men  are  canonized  or 
apotheosized ;  that  is,  not  until  they  have  become 
idealized.  All  our  heroes  undergo  this  metamor- 
phosis. To  popular  thought  Washington  has 
become  faultless ;  yet  he  was  human,  and  in  some 
regards  even  frail.  We  know  only  the  ideal 
Washington.  The  original  events  of  history  also 
fade  out  and  become  idealized  in  like  manner ;  they 
objectively  symbolize  a  conception  or  body  of 
thought  which  typifies  all  of  like  character.  His- 
toric occurrence  is  thus  transformed  into  a  spir- 
itual possession. 

This  principle  of  idealization  finds  perfect  illus- 
tration in  the  account  of  Christ's  temptation. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  actual  occurrences, 
they  have  been  so  universalized  that  they  stand  as 
typical  of  all  possible  temptations.  All  there  is 
of  pleasure,  pride,  and  power  are  involved  in  the 
temptations  to  sensuous  satisfaction,  selfish  grat- 
ification, and  sovereign  ambition.  And  all  temp- 
tations whatever  are  symbolized  in  these.  Much 
of  the  Gospels  are  of  this  character.  The  para- 
bles of  Christ  serve  as  example ;  they  evidently 
were  never  intended  to  represent  or  portray  sim- 
ply a  single  concrete  event.  In  the  story  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  it  is  evident  that,  in  the  man  who 
went  his  way  down  to  Jericho  and  fell  among 
thieves,  we  have  a  picture  taken  from  the  actual 
life  of  Palestine,  with  which  all  were  familiar ; 
but  it  is  likewise  clear  that  Christ  had  no  inten- 
tion in  the  parable  of  setting  forth  only  a  striking 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  13 

particular  case.  The  very  terms  of  the  concep- 
tion are  general.  The  lesson,  therefore,  is  that 
whoever  in  this  great  world  is  in  need  of  my  help 
is  my  neighbor.  It  is  the  general  conception  back 
of  the  particular  occurrence,  the  universal  thought 
and  significance,  that  bears  the  instruction  in- 
tended. The  customs  and  conditions  of  that  land 
were  one  thing;  but  the  conceptual  significance  of 
a  given  event  is  herein  universalized,  and  made  ap- 
plicable to  all  lands,  among  all  peoples,  and  in  all 
times.  It  is  the  rational  and  ethical  content  of 
the  teaching  that  has  abiding  significance.  Moral 
goods  are  in  essence  universal ;  truth  has  no  lo- 
cality or  clime.  And  these  are  the  things  of 
vital  concern  in  the  experiences  of  life.  Like 
mathematical  formulas,  under  which  may  be  sub- 
sumed every  particular  case,  the  teachings  of 
Christ  aim  to  present  those  universal  truths  which 
are  applicable  to  every  life  in  similar  circum- 
stance. They  are  the  sovereign  rules  of  all  life, 
valid  among  all  men.  This  character  was  neces- 
sary for  them  to  bear  universal  sway,  and  nothing 
less  would  do  for  a  world-religion.  His  doctrine 
seeks  to  become  like  the  word  of  God  itself  —  that 
word  which  He  makes  known  by  His  Spirit  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  all  men  —  a  universal  lan- 
guage, understood  alike  among  all  nations  and 
tongues. 

The  process  of  idealization  is  well  presented  in 
the  development  of  the  story  of  Christ's  tempta- 
tion.    For  example,  in   the  Gospel  according  to 


14k  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

St.  Mark,  which  is  recognized  as  the  oldest  of  the 
Gospels,  we  have  the  briefest  possible  account : 
"  And  straightway  the  Spirit  driveth  him  forth 
into  the  wilderness.  And  he  was  in  the  wilderness 
forty  days  tempted  of  Satan ;  and  he  was  with  the 
wild  beasts ;  and  the  angels  ministered  unto  him."  * 
It  is  probable  that  in  this  account  we  have  the  sim- 
plest statement  of  an  actual  experience,  of  which 
Christ  had  spoken  to  his  disciples.  And  even  in 
this  there  are  evident  idealized  elements  and  pre- 
suppositions. But  when  we  compare  it  to  the  ac- 
count given  by  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke  we  are 
able  to  see  what  further  transformation  the  story 
of  his  original  experience  has  undergone.  They 
not  only  extend  the  account  by  elaboration,  but 
still  further  universalize  and  idealize  its  signifi- 
cance. This  may  be  said  to  be  a  good  example 
of  how  tradition  becomes  classic ;  from  its  original 
form,  it  is  worked  over  by  the  masters  and  given 
its  final  literary  setting.  In  this  manner  it  be- 
comes a  work  of  art  as  well  as  history.  The  story 
of  the  "  Temptation  "  is  indeed  a  highly  artistic 
creation,  a  poem  and  a  philosophy.  It  has  in  it 
all  the  elements  of  a  drama,  and  the  profundity 
of  a  system.  In  its  massive  suggestiveness  it  is 
unsurpassed  by  any  piece  of  literature.  The  nar- 
rative evidently  does  not  aim  at  exact  history ; 
nowhere  do  the  Gospels  pretend  to  exhibit  the  de- 
tailed life  of  Christ ;  this  would  not  only  be  impos- 
sible for  literature  to  accomplish,  but  because  it 
4  St.  Mark  1 :  12,  13. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  15 

would  become  a  burden  beyond  the  powers  of  the 
mind  to  grasp,  it  would  have  been  unprofitable. 
The  masters  who  created  this  religious  literature, 
therefore,  seized  upon  Christ's  essential  character 
and  sought  to  present  it  in  its  true  perspective. 
The  actual  details  of  any  life  are  not  highly  sus- 
tained enough  to  command  power.  Hence  what- 
ever the  normal  occurrences  of  his  life  failed  to 
express,  art  and  literature  have  sought  to  supply. 
The  Gospels  were  founded  upon  the  example  of  the 
living,  historic  Christ ;  but  only  his  salient  char- 
acteristics have  been  preserved  to  us ;  that  is,  he 
has  been  idealized.  Christ's  life  is  a  work  of  art ; 
and  like  all  true  art  it  unifies  and  vitalizes  the  lives 
of  men. 

In  this  interpretive  study  of  the  "  Temptation  " 
our  method  must  be  critical.  At  the  present  time 
great  transitions  in  religious  thought  and  practice 
are  going  on ;  the  tendency  is  to  break  away  from 
traditional  beliefs  as  never  before.  There  is  a 
going  back  to  first  principles  and  a  thinking  of 
the  problems  anew ;  there  is  a  disposition  to  ex- 
amine religion  independently  for  ourselves ;  no 
mere  hearsay  knowledge  will  suffice,  nor  may  others 
do  our  thinking  for  us.  There  is  a  rude  turning 
away  from  our  time-honored  dogmas  and  creeds, 
and  a  serious  questioning  of  the  tenets  of  our  faith 
and  practice.  This  does  not  signify  that  men 
are  growing  less  religious,  but  rather  that  they 
mean  to  be  more  rationally  so.  It  is  as  it  should 
be,   and  is   the  sign   of  intellectual   good   health; 


16  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

for  the  faith  that  stands  on  authority  is  not  faith, 
and  the  rehance  on  authority  marks  the  sure  de- 
cHne  of  religion.  Freedom  of  thought  and  con- 
viction alone  can  save  us  from  spiritual  death  and 
folly.  This  awakening  of  thought  to  the  religious 
problem  is  a  natural  fruition  of  our  age.  The 
Reformation  itself  was  but  a  struggle  for  the  lib- 
erty of  individual  thought  and  conscience ;  and 
this  spirit  has  never  died,  but  has  spread  over  the 
whole  world.  Accordingly  the  genesis,  history, 
and  development  of  religious  literature  and  doc- 
trine are  being  brought  under  more  rigid  scrutiny 
than  ever  before.  It  is  the  age  of  criticism.  But 
this  likewise  must  be  welcomed ;  for  surely  nothing 
is  more  important  for  correct  thinking  and  knowl- 
edge than  first  of  all  to  establish  the  exact  nature 
and  authenticity  of  our  data.  The  full  and  in- 
telligent accomplishment  of  this  task  would  cer- 
tainly be  of  the  utmost  benefaction  to  the  cause 
of  religion.  Indeed,  already  the  results  of  criti- 
cism have  been  the  revelation  of  revelation,  and 
that  which  was  old  has  become  new  and  greatly 
enriched. 

It  may  also  be  recognized  that  our  religious 
life  and  practice  are  being  modified  by  the  pro- 
gressive arts  of  civilization.  There  is  a  growing 
community  of  thought ;  all  the  corners  of  the  earth 
are  becoming  cosmopolitan,  and  the  best  ideals  of 
humanity  are  rapidly  becoming  a  universal  pos- 
session. It  is  but  natural  that  all  this  should  find 
expression  in  a  more  truly  catholic  religion.     It 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  17 

seems  reasonable  that  the  profounder  intelligence, 
the  more  exact  and  scientific  knowledge  of  our 
age,  can  not  but  result  in  more  rational  and  de- 
fensible religious  faith  and  doctrine.  Untram- 
meled  criticism,  however,  has  resulted  in  two  move- 
ments of  thought:  on  the  one  hand,  there  has 
been  a  general  recklessness,  in  which  men  have 
shot  wide  of  the  mark  and  come  to  wild  and  un- 
warranted conclusions ;  on  the  other  hand,  these 
very  fallacies  and  extremities  of  thought  have 
stimulated  criticism  to  more  thoroughgoing  schol- 
arly investigation,  Avhich  has  resulted,  not  only  in 
the  refuting  of  such  error  as  had  arisen,  but  the 
discovery  of  much  .new  and  important  truth. 
Criticism  has  been  the  threshing-floor  upon  which 
the  truth  has  been  sifted.  Falsehood  and  error 
will  always  fall  of  their  own  weight  in  due  time. 
They  are  like  the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth 
away.  The  least  that  can  be  required  of  a  man 
is  that  he  give  reasons  for  the  faith  or  the  unfaith 
that  is  within  him ;  and  the  least  that  man  can  re- 
quire is  the  liberty  so  to  do.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that,  in  some  instances,  even  yet  there  is  a  dispo- 
sition to  suppress  freedom  of  thought  and  sym- 
pathy. Ecclesiastical  inquisitions  have  not  wholly 
ceased.  But  they  must  surely  always  come  to 
nought ;  for  even  the  pronunciamentos  of  coun- 
cils are  not  infallible,  and  their  decisions 
do  not  determine  the  truth.  *'  E  pur  si  muove.^*  ^ 
The  wise  advice  of  Gamaliel  to  the  excited  mob 
5  Galileo. 


18  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

which  was  determined  to  kill  Peter  and  the  other 
apostles,  is  the  safe  and  universal  law  of  action 
for  all  men  relative  to  freedom  of  thought :  "  Re- 
frain from  these  men,  and  let  them  alone ;  for  if 
this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to 
nought ;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  can  not  overthrow 
it ;  lest  haply  3^e  be  found  even  to  fight  against 
God."  ^  Intellectual  and  moral  freedom  are  the 
most  mandatory  laws  of  life.  Where  these  condi- 
tions have  prevailed  among  a  people  they  have 
gained  dignity  and  leadership  among  the  nations. 
And  the  rule  of  individual  practice  must  always 
be  that  so  clearly  enunciated  in  the  first  epistle 
to  the  Thessalonians  :  "  Prove  all  things  ;  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good."  ^ 

Religious  problems  present  themselves  under 
two  forms:  first,  that  of  original  religious  experi- 
ence ;  secondly,  that  of  religious  literature.  But 
since  religious  literature  is  only  the  record  of 
original  religious  experience  or  thought,  the  prob- 
lem of  interpretation  necessarily  involves  both  the 
psychological  and  literary  difficulties.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  original  religious  experience  is  open  to 
every  individual;  and  without  this  even  the  re- 
corded experiences  of  prophets  and  saints  would 
have  no  meaning  to  us.  Strangely  enough,  little 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  meaning  and  in- 
terpretation of  individual  religious  experience. 
Such    experience,    however    significant    in    itself, 

6  Acts  5:38,  39. 

7  1  Thes.  5:21. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  19 

rarely  gets  beyond  the  individual  who  has  it.  The 
psychology  of  religion  has  never  received  proper 
^consideration.  It  is  nevertheless  the  most  im- 
portant thing  in  vital  religion,  and  should  have 
had  more  attention  than  has  ever  been  given  to 
it.^  But  because  such  experience  is  purely  per- 
sonal and  subjective,  it  can  not  become  a  com- 
mon possession  until  it  be  cast  in  the  form  of  liter- 
ature ;  and  even  then  it  can  have  no  ideal  validity 
as  doctrine  until  it  be  rationalized  and  elevated 
into  the  dignity  of  universal  truth.  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress  "  and  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ  "  are  por- 
trayals of  individual  religious  thought  and  ex- 
perience which,  had  they  been  written  in  an 
earlier  age,  might  have  been  canonized,  and  in 
practice  are  largely  used  for  spiritual  guidance 
and  consolation.  In  a  similar  manner,  but  with 
profounder  significance,  all  our  religious  literature 
has  been  formed.  Experience  has  passed  into  tra- 
dition, and  tradition  in  turn  has  been  written  in 
literature ;  also  great  souls  have  recorded  their 
own  experiences  and  thought ;  these  all,  having 
been  sifted  by  the  ages,  have  become  classic  in  the 
Scriptures.  They  may  be  interpreted  accordingly 
only  by  an  understanding  of  the  psychology  of 
their  literature. 

In  our  religious  literature  we  have  a  common 
possession,  to  determine  the  meaning  of  which  is 
of  the  utmost  importance.  The  Bible,  as  contain- 
ing the  substance  of  our  religious  history,  litera- 

8  Cf .  W.  James :    "  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience." 


W  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ture  and  doctrine,  because  of  the  unique  tradi- 
tional position  which  it  occupies,  and  the  super- 
natural presuppositions  which  cluster  around  it, 
has  become  the  chief  bone  of  contention,  and  fur- 
nishes the  great  problem  for  interpretation.  The 
canon  of  this  literature  is  complete ;  but  the  prob- 
lem that  remains  is  an  understanding  of  its  mean- 
ing. Our  study  of  origins  and  developments  is 
only  instrumental  to  this  higher  end.  We  all  have 
the  same  Bible,  but  we  come  to  very  different  con- 
clusions as  to  its  significance.  It  is  evident  that 
the  only  means  of  closer  agreement  must  be  by  a 
more  critical  examination  of  its  contents,  and  a 
more  rational  interpretation  of  them.  Not  all 
the  conflicting  views  concerning  it  can  be  legiti- 
mate. Truth  is  single ;  error  is  manifold.  The 
divergent  claims,  therefore,  must  be  mostly  erro- 
neous. But  this  is  a  serious  conclusion  and 
all  the  more  indicates  the  need  of  a  reexamination 
of  the  facts  and  a  cogent  deducing  of  rational 
inferences.  The  authors  of  the  sacred  writings 
doubtless  meant  to  convey  definite  meanings  in  all 
their  works ;  the  question  now  is  as  to  what  these 
meanings  are.  We  shall  see  in  our  further  study 
with  what  difficulties  the  problem  is  beset.  In  the 
end,  however,  we  shall  find  that  religious  truth, 
like  all  other,  can  be  determined  only  by  its  evi- 
dence before  the  rational  understanding.  The 
Bible  can  exercise  authority  over  human  minds 
only  in  so  far  as  it  rationally  sets  forth 
and     maintains     the     truth.     Without     this     it 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  21 

would  have  no  meaning  and  could  claim  no 
assent.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  bib- 
lical literature  is  not  easy  to  interpret.  It 
contains  a  variety  of  conceptions  on  almost  ev- 
ery conceivable  subject  which  has  any  relation 
to  religious  life  and  experience,  and  finds  expres- 
sion by  means  of  every  known  rhetorical  device, 
particularly  figurative  and  symbolical  language, 
to  which  it  is  hard  to  give  exact  and  definite  mean- 
ings. It  abounds  in  legend,  poetry,  proverb, 
prophecy,  parable,  and  apocalypse,  which  are  not 
easily  resolved  into  specific  terms  of  the  under- 
standing. Nevertheless  this  must  be  done  or  its 
message  remains  hidden.  Its  meaning  lies  not 
on  the  surface ;  we  have  to  search  out  the  matter. 
It  may  be  well  in  this  connection  to  notice  the 
relation  between  religious  and  scientific  methods 
and  knowledge.  Some  scientists  have  been  wont 
to  make  light  of  religion,  and  to  assume  that 
real  knowledge  exists  in  their  realm  of  thought 
alone.  However,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  same  human  experience  is  the  point  of  de- 
parture for  both  science  and  religion,  the 
one  having  as  its  chief  end  the  description 
of  phenomena,  the  other  aiming  at  an  explana- 
tion of  Cause.  But  when  the  scientists  pass 
from  the  observed  facts  to  speculation  con- 
cerning the  facts,  they  become  philosophers  and 
place  themselves  on  the  same  basis  with  the  think- 
ers in  the  religious  realm.  And  in  this  sphere  it 
must  be  admitted  that  they  have  reached  no  more 


^2  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

conclusive  results ;  in  fact,  science  has  always  been 
uncertain  of  its  metaphysics.  Thus  physical  sci- 
ence first  posited  the  atom  as  its  basal  element, 
which  it  defined  as  an  extended  but  indivisible  par- 
ticle of  matter.  But  this  is  a  self-evident  contra- 
diction. No  extended  thing  is  indivisible,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case.  The  first  principle  of  natural 
science  was,  therefore,  an  outright  irrationality. 
In  view  of  this  fact,  and  also  perhaps  because  of 
the  dominant  place  that  electricity  has  come  to 
hold,  the  physicists  have  shifted  their  ground  and 
but  recently  proposed  the  ion  or  electron  as  the 
unit  of  material  science,  which  is  defined  as  a  point 
of  force.  From  a  static,  they  have  passed  to  a 
dynamic,  unit.  But  it  might  be  embarrassing  to 
the  scientist  to  raise  the  question  as  to  what  is 
force  other  than  an  abstraction,  and  as  to  how 
an  extended  world  could  ever  be  built  up  from  un- 
extended  points.  In  fact,  the  scientists  who  have 
tended  to  become  positivists,  renouncing  all  met- 
aphysics as  impossible,  have  in  reality  become  ul- 
tra-metaphysicians. 

The  history  of  science  thus  forms  a  continuous 
series  of  conflicting  notions :  the  Ptolemaic  astron- 
omy gives  way  to  the  Copernican ;  the  nebular 
hypothesis  is  supplanted  by  the  planetesimal  the- 
ory ;  the  chemico-physical  conception  of  generation 
is  opposed  by  that  of  vitalism  in  biology.  From 
all  of  which  it  appears  that  the  fundamental  theo- 
ries of  science  have  been  hardly  scientific  at  all. 
Natural  phenomena  are  hard  to  reduce  to  system 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  23 

and  rational  explanation.  Where  experimenta- 
tion has  been  possible  accuracy  has  been  attained 
more  readily ;  but  even  when  facts  are  well  estab- 
lished the  explanation  may  be  far  from  clear. 
The  problem  of  science,  as  well  as  that  of  re- 
ligion, is  one  of  interpretation.  It  appears,  there- 
fore, that  scientists  have  no  occasion  to  deprecate 
religion.  Both  science  and  religion  are  incom- 
plete systems  of  thought.  There  is,  however,  no 
conflict  between  them,  as  some  would  have  us  be- 
lieve. True  science  and  true  religion  must  be  har- 
monious. The  world  is  a  unit.  No  truth  in 
either  realm  can  really  conflict  with  any  truth  in 
the  other.  The  only  question  in  either  case  is 
as  to  what  is  true  and  what  is  false.  And  at 
this  point  religion  seems  to  be  at  a  disadvantage, 
since  it  can  not  demonstrate  its  knowledge  to  sense 
experience ;  but  the  disadvantage  is  only  in  seem- 
ing, for  in  the  end  its  truths  are  found  to  be  the 
most  basal  in  reason  of  all,  being,  in  fact,  those 
upon  which  science  itself  depends.  Both  science 
and  religion  are  hemispheres  of  thought  which  seek 
to  interpret  the  common  world  of  experience. 
Both  are  world-interpretations,  and  when  true 
must  be  mutually  harmonious. 

The  chief  reason  that  religious  thought  and 
practice  have  fallen  into  error  from  time  to  time 
is  because  of  an  easy-going  good-will  which  has 
been  thoroughly  uncritical  and  thoughtless  in  its 
procedure.  Perhaps  in  no  other  realm  of  human 
tliinking    would    such    irrational    and    haphazard 


U  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

methods  have  been  countenanced  for  so  long;  and 
the  time  has  come  in  which  it  can  not  more  be  tol- 
erated here.  There  is  no  virtue  in  consecrated 
ignorance  and  folly.  Truth,  sobriety,  and  good 
taste  are  the  handmaids  of  religion.  Because 
courteous  deference  always  desires  to  avoid  per- 
sonal offense,  the  most  absurd  and  ridiculous  no- 
tions have  been  constantly  permitted  to  pass  by 
unchallenged.  The  best  thing  that  could  happen 
to  the  religious  egotist  and  traditionalist  would  be 
for  him  to  be  shaken  out  of  the  ruts  by  swift  re- 
buke. Something  of  the  open  Forum  would  con- 
tribute to  the  enlargement  of  religious  truth. 
Even  rude  rebuff  would  often  be  not  out  of  place 
if  it  would  but  awaken  men  to  living  thought. 
There  are  two  types  of  mind:  the  one  passive, 
which  drifts  with  every  wind  and  tide,  following  the 
traditional  current ;  the  other  active  and  con- 
structive, which  thinks  and  acts  on  its  own  ac- 
count, and  after  proving  all  things  holds  fast  only 
that  which  is  good.  The  passive  mind  must  inev- 
itably drift  upon  the  shoals ;  but  the  active,  con- 
structive mind  sets  before  it  a  program,  fixes  a 
given  goal  and  strives  to  come  thereto.  Thus 
Christ  set  before  himself  the  ideal  destiny,  bom  in 
his  inmost  soul,  and  consistently  adhered  to  it  un- 
til the  end.  The  temptations  that  overwhelm  men 
stormed  him  without  avail.  He  set  out  to  lay 
foursquare  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  temptation 
to  the  sovereignty  over  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
had  no  power  to  deter  him.     His  temptations  in 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  25 

the  wilderness,  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple,  and 
in  the  high  mountain  portray  the  lesson  of  sub- 
lime moral  achievement  and  the  accrument  of  spir- 
itual power  by  a  life  of  steadfast  overcoming. 

Objection  has  been  made  to  modern  theological 
tendency  because  it  has  grown  out  of  criticism. 
But  the  pity  is  that  such  uncritical  methods  have 
prevailed.  In  justification  of  criticism,  it  will  be 
well  to  remember  that  it  is  by  making  the  truth 
known,  and  by  that  alone,  that  the  tenets  of  re- 
ligion can  be  made  secure.  To  oppose  true  crit- 
icism is  to  hinder  the  cause  of  genuine  religion. 
Without  critical  investigation  religion  is  liable  to 
deterioration,  if  not  decay.  Kant  held  that  the 
critical  philosophy  was  the  only  means  to  the  prog- 
ress of  truth,  and  it  is  certain  this  method  is  not 
less  required  in  the  philosophy  of  religion.  Fur- 
thermore, true  criticism  can  not  eliminate  from 
religion  anything  that  is  vital  or  true.  No  part 
of  religious  literature  has  been  destroyed  thereby. 
The  letter  of  the  Bible  remains  fixed,  and  the  ac- 
ceptance of  any  given  interpretation  concerning 
it  must  depend  upon  appeal  to  the  community  of 
intelligence  and  the  ultimate  demands  of  reason. 
Complete  agreement  upon  all  problems  can  not 
perhaps  be  hoped  for,  with  our  present  knowledge ; 
but  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that,  in  the  essen- 
tials, we  may  approach  closely  to  conforming 
views. 

The  aim  of  criticism  must  be  to  rightly  under- 
stand any  revelation  of  God  as  portrayed  in  our 


26  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

religious  literature ;  and  certainly  no  less  than 
this  could  be  desired  by  even  the  most  conservative 
of  thinkers.  A  rash  and  flippant  character  of 
criticism,  which  aims  primarily  to  shock  the  preju- 
dices and  convictions  of  men,  and  that  without 
warrantable  grounds,  is  to  be  unreservedly  con- 
demned. In  the  study  of  Christ's  temptation, 
our  simple  purpose  is  to  get  at  its  content  and 
meaning.  We  believe  the  interpretation  suggested 
not  only  does  not  detract  from  its  force  and  sig- 
nificance, but  on  the  contrary  greatly  enriches  it. 
A'^alid  criticism  must  always  leave  the  truth  like 
gold  tried  in  the  crucible.  If  Christ's  gospel  be 
what  men  have  believed  it  to  be,  then  all  the  more 
true  will  it  appear  the  more  faithfully  it  is  scru- 
tinized. To  suppose  that  it  could  suffer  damage 
from  such  examination  is  to  confess  a  shameful 
infidelity.  Just  criticism  can  but  exhibit  the  truth 
it  contains,  and  so  magnify  its  real  power. ^ 

9  Cf.    Rudolf  Eucken:  "  The  Truth  of  Religion."     Part  I, 
Ch.  Ill,  c.  1. 


CHAPTER  II 
PRINCIPLES  OF  INTERPRETATION 


"  The  scientific  spirit  is  of  more  value  than  its 
products,  and  irrationally  held  truths  may  be  more 
harmful  than  reasoned  errors." 

Huxley,  "  Science  and  Culture  " 

("  Origin  of  Species  "). 

"  Truth  is  compared  in  Scripture  to  a  streaming 
fountain;  if  her  waters  flow  not  in  a  perpetual  pro- 
gression, they  sicken  into  a  muddy  pool  of  conformity 
and  tradition." 

Milton,  Prose  Works    ("  Areopagitica  "). 

"  There  is  no  walking  uprightly  in  the  dark.  Zeal 
will  cause  you  to  go  apace;  but  not  at  all  to  go  right, 
if  judgment  guide  it  not.  Erroneous  zeal  will  make 
you  do  evil  with  double  violence." 

Richard  Baxter,  Works  ("  Christian  Politics  "). 


CHAPTER  II 
PRINCIPLES  OF  INTERPRETATION 

The  interpretation  of  literature  presupposes 
an  understanding  of  the  general  laws  of  thought. 
From  the  spoken  or  written  words  we  have  the 
task  of  inferring  their  meaning.  This  can  be 
done  successfully  only  in  so  far  as  we  are  able  to 
determine  the  psychological  motives  and  processes 
which  have  been  employed  in  any  particular  case. 
The  whole  problem  of  knowledge,  therefore,  is  to 
some   degree  involved. 

But  the  problem  of  knowledge  is  not  simple. 
Spontaneous  thinking  comes  shortly  into  conflict 
with  itself,  and  therefrom  we  learn  that  the  mind 
does  not  always  grasp  things  in  their  true  rela- 
tions and  essential  nature,  that  the  processes  of 
thought  are  not  invariably  trustworthy.  It  was 
this  inconsistency  in  human  thinking,  first  con- 
sciously investigated  by  the  Sophists^  that  gave 
rise  to  the  inquiry  concerning  the  nature  and 
possibility  of  knowledge.  The  contradictions  of 
early  philosophic  thought  led  naturally  to  the  at- 
tempt to  construct  a  theory  of  knowledge  whereby 
the  mind,  if  possible,  might  be  able  to  escape  its 

errors    and    reach    the    infallible    truth.     In    this 

29 


30  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

manner  the  science  of  thought  was  bom,  and  its 
importance  for  knowledge  has  grown  with  ever 
increasing  significance. 

It  is  not  our  present  purpose  to  investigate  the 
laws  of  thought  in  general,  but  simply  to  present 
certain  manifest  principles  involved  in  the  process 
of  all  interpretation.  Analysis  shows  that  two 
possible  sources  of  knowledge  are  open  to  us : 
Firsts  immediate  personal  experience  as  given  in 
the  empirical  and  reflectional  knowledge  of  indi- 
vidual consciousness  and  life ;  secondly/,  traditional 
or  race  experience  as  manifest  in  the  common  con- 
sciousness of  humanity,  revealed  through  its  liter- 
ature and  preserved  therein.  We  consider  them 
in  their  order. 

1.  Individual  conscious  experience  and  thought 
are  the  basal  factors  in  the  determination  of  all 
truth.  However  true  a  thing  may  be,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  known  as  such,  it  must  be  compre- 
hended by  the  individual  conscious  mind ;  otherwise 
it  remains  hidden  from  us.  In  all  matters  of  in- 
telligence our  own  rational  insight  is  the  supreme 
court  of  appeal.  Of  course,  truth  can  not  be  a 
mere  ipse  dixit  of  personal  consciousness,  a  preju- 
dice or  whim  of  the  individual,  but  must  inhere  in 
the  universal  character  of  thought  which  is  com- 
mon to  all  intelligence.  Mind  may  be  conceived 
as  possessing  constitutional  or  immanent  laws 
within  itself  which  guarantee  the  truth,  and  error 
results,  accordingly,  because  of  failure  to  enforce 
obedience  to  these  laws.     What  is  needed,  always, 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  31 

is  a  larger  vigilance  and  more  critical  examination 
of  our  thinking;  only  in  this  way  can  we  escape 
the  consequences  of  error  and  confusion.  There 
is  no  external  standard-meter  of  truth  to  which 
we  may  compare  our  thought  upon  occasion.  We 
can  set  up  no  standard  by  v/hich  truth  may  be 
measured  except  the  living,  enlightened  under- 
standing. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  objected  that  in  religion  we 
have  just  such  an  external  standard  of  truth  in 
revelation  by  special  inspiration.  The  reply 
must  be  that,  even  if  we  should  grant  the  existence 
of  a  direct  revelation  from  God  to  man,  such  rev- 
elation would  be  no  revelation  at  all  for  us  unless 
we  were  able  to  construe  it  in  terms  of  the  under- 
standing. It  might  contain  the  most  priceless 
truths,  but  they  would  signify  nothing  except  as 
they  awakened  in  us  a  comprehension  of  their 
meaning.  Revelation  itself,  therefore,  must  be 
subject  to  the  law  of  human  reason.  Without  this 
it  would  be  impossible  to  judge  as  to  the  validity 
of  revelation  at  all.  That  which  is  revealed  must 
find  witness  in  the  soul  or  remain  ineffectual. 
That  which  finds  no  response  in  the  mind  can 
claim  no  assent.  Intellectual  honesty  requires  not 
less  than  this. 

But  even  inspiration  conceived  as  a  direct  ma- 
nipulation of  the  mind  of  man  by  God  in  such  man- 
ner as  to  cause  him  to  declare  or  write  down  the 
divine  truth,  is  an  utterly  unthinkable  notion  un- 
less man  be  conceived  to  be  a  passive  automaton 


Sa  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

in  the  hands  of  God,  in  which  case  not  man  but 
God  becomes  the  sole  agent.  On  the  contrary, 
inspiration  can  only  mean  that  God,  by  His  Spirit, 
has  brought  truth  to  the  quickened  consciousness 
of  man,  which,  left  to  himself,  he  would  not  have 
reached,  but  which,  when  brought  to  his  attention, 
he  recognizes  as  true.  Inspiration,  as  the  word 
indicates,  is  an  in-Spirit-ing  or  breathing  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  into  the  mind  of  man ;  and  this  is 
conceivable  only  by  man  thinking  the  thought 
which  God  may  suggest.  The  inspiration  of  the 
Bible  means  only  that  the  mind  of  God  has,  in  this 
manner,  been  indubitably  known  and  declared  by 
prophets  and  saints  of  old. 

In  this  connection  we  recognize  the  dominating 
significance  of  personal  experience  for  religious 
knowledge.  Without  such  experience  religious  lit- 
erature would  have  no  meaning  to  us.  There 
could  be  no  greater  heresy  than  to  suppose  that 
God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  proph- 
ets, and  who  in  these  last  days  has  spoken  unto  us 
by  His  Son,  speaks  not  at  all  unto  men  of  our  own 
day  and  generation.  God  speaks  to  us  as  He  did 
to  godly  men  in  the  past,  and  precisely  in  the  same 
way.  In  fact,  the  truest  revelation  that  can  come 
to  men  is  that  which  is  shed  abroad  in  their 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Without  this  all  other 
revelations  fail  to  reveal.  But  here,  again,  the 
problem  of  interpretation  is  just  as  insistent;  for 
whatever  the  religious  experience,  we  have  need  to 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  33 

determine  its  meaning  in  terms  of  the  understand- 
ing; otherwise  we  may  be  dealing  with  irrelevant 
vagaries.  This  is  the  meaning  of  St.  Paul's  words 
to  the  Romans  when  he  writes :  "  The  Spirit  itself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  arc  the 
children  of  God."  ^  The  truest  knowledge  we  may 
obtain  of  God  is  not  that  which  is  written  in  books, 
but  that  which  is  written  on  the  tablets  of  our 
hearts  and  minds.  Each  individual  consciousness, 
therefore,  becomes  an  instrument  for  the  revela- 
tion of  God.  This  is  what  Jesus  meant  when  he 
declared :  "  Behold,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within 
you."  ^  It  is  not  the  God  of  the  letter,  but  the 
God  of  the  Spirit  that  giveth  life. 

This  general  need  of  interpreting  experience  is 
evidenced  in  the  most  elemental  processes  of  the 
mental  life.  In  all  psychical  phenomena  we  may 
clearly  discern :  first,  an  order  of  sensation,  which 
gives  us  the  raw  material  of  knowledge ;  secondly, 
an  order  of  thought,  which  works  over  this  raw 
material  of  experience  into  rational  forms.  The 
senses  give  us  one  thing  and  thought  gives  us  an- 
other. Nowhere  are  these  two  factors  in  the  men- 
tal processes  more  clearly  seen  than  in  our  experi- 
ence of  the  cosmical  world.  To  the  senses  the 
world  is  flat ;  to  thought  it  is  round.  To  the 
senses  the  earth  stands  still,  while  the  sun  moves ; 
to  thought  the  sun  stands  still,  while  the  earth 
moves,  rotating  on  its  axis  and   revolving  in  its 

iRom.  8:16. 

2  St.  Luke  17:21. 


34  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

orbit  with  prodigious  velocity.  Thus  thought  re- 
verses every  report  of  the  senses  and  makes  the 
whole  world  anew.  This  psychological  principle 
finds  its  counterpart  in  all  the  relations  of  knowl- 
edge. Every  object  of  investigation  presents: 
first,  an  order  of  facts ;  secondly,  the  necessity  of 
interpreting  these  facts  into  harmonious  rational 
significance.  The  facts  furnish  the  data  of  the 
given  science.  For  example,  the  nebulous  patches 
in  the  heavens  and  movements  of  the  astronomical 
bodies  are  facts  of  observation ;  the  nebular  and 
planetesimal  hypotheses  are  varying  explanations 
of  these  facts.  With  respect  to  our  present  task, 
the  literary  presentation  of  the  temptation  of 
Christ  furnishes  our  data ;  and  this  is  obviously  the 
same  for  all  alike ;  the  problem  is  as  to  its  mean- 
ing, or  how  it  shall  be  interpreted. 

To  begin  with,  every  science  has  to  make  certain 
assumptions,  without  which  it  can  not  proceed. 
Thus  the  physical  sciences  assume  the  reality  of 
matter  and  the  laws  of  motion,  out  of  which  are 
built  the  various  systems.  Likewise  in  the  theory 
of  knowledge  we  have  to  assume,  first,  the  com- 
munity of  intelligence,  in  order  that  truth  may  ex- 
ist at  all  in  any  objective  or  universal  sense.  Rea- 
son presupposes  valid  laws  of  thinking,  without 
which  there  could  be  no  intelligent  thought.  These 
laws  evidently  must  be  common  to  all  intelligence 
whatever.  That  two  times  two  are  four,  and  a 
straight  line  the  shortest  distance  between  two 
points,  must  be  true  to  you,  to  me,  to  God,  and  to 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  35 

every  mind  in  the  universe.  Truths  of  whatever 
kind,  when  rightly  understood,  must  find  accept- 
ance by  all  intelligence.  The  difficulty,  of  course, 
is  to  discover  and  clearly  conceive  the  truth  in  the 
various  relations  of  thought.  That  there  is  such 
a  community  of  intelligence  may  be  granted  is  an 
assumption ;  but  that  it  is  a  necessary  assumption 
is  evident  to  all,  and  without  which  knowledge 
would  be  impossible.  It  follows,  therefore,  that 
whatever  notions  we  may  entertain,  belief  or  un- 
belief alike,  as  mere  subjective  facts,  mean  nothing 
and  become  rational  only  through  reasons  ren- 
dered. Apart  from  such  reasons  we  would  have 
merely  personal  caprice.  We  must  give  reasons 
both  for  the  faith  and  the  unfaith  that  is  within 
us,  and  neither  has  a  vestige  of  standing  without 
it.  The  community  of  intelligence  is  a  striking 
manifestation  of  the  unity  and  intelligibility  of  the 
world-order. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  as- 
sume that  there  is  a  common  world  of  experience, 
—  that  the  objective  world  is  the  same  for  all  in- 
telligences. Without  this  assumption  knowledge 
would  likewise  be  impossible.  Unless  there  be  such 
common  world  each  person  must  be  confined  to  his 
own  particular  dream,  without  any  warrant  for 
thinking  it  to  mean  anything  for  any  one  else.  It 
also  turns  out  that  this  common  world  of  experi- 
ence is  not  one  of  mere  chance  conjunctions,  but  is 
one  of  systematic  order  and  connections.  These 
furnish  us  with  the  basis  of  science  and  the  prac- 


36  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

tical  life  of  the  world.  The  objective  world  is  fit- 
ted to  the  knowing  mind,  and  the  mind  to  the 
world.  As  the  mind  is  intelligent,  the  world  is  in- 
telligible. These  facts  seem  to  be  the  most  cer- 
tain index  that  the  world  is  an  expression  of  Abso- 
lute Intelligence,  and,  as  such,  amenable  to  the  laws 
of  thought  and  knowledge.  The  universal  con- 
tinuity and  intelligibility  of  the  world  as  a  whole 
is  evidently  an  assumption,  but,  if  knowledge  is  to 
be  possible,  it  is  certainly  a  necessary  assumption. 
In  fact,  judgments  of  every  character,  if  they 
are  to  be  saved  from  pure  arbitrariness,  must  be 
supported  by  reasons ;  and  the  attempt  to  give 
reasons  presupposes  valid  laws  of  thought  which 
must  be  assumed  to  exist  in  our  common  intelli- 
gence, and  applicable  to  a  common  world  of  experi- 
ence. These  common  laws  of  knowledge  alone  can 
give  us  hope  of  a  harmonious  interpretation  of 
literature  or  life. 

2.  Turning  to  traditional  knowledge,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  it  rests  back  upon  experiential  knowl- 
edge for  its  ultimate  significance  and  explanation ; 
for  tradition  itself  is  no  more  than  a  statement 
and  interpretation  of  primal  experience.  In  prac- 
tice, however,  we  begin  life  with  traditional  con- 
ceptions. The  child  is  incapable  of  thinking  for 
itself,  any  more  than  acting  without  guidance. 
It  must  depend  upon  its  parents  and  the  older 
members  of  society  to  do  its  thinking  for  it.  Even 
its  own  experiences  have  to  be  interpreted  for  it. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  37 

This  fact  of  our  lives  is  fraught  with  great  dan- 
ger, as  well  as  benefits ;  for  there  is  the  possibility 
of  our  always  remaining  in  a  tuitional  state  of 
mind,  and  never  learning  to  think  for  ourselves. 
As  the  eaglet  learns  to  fly  only  by  flying,  so  we 
must  learn  to  think  by  actually  thinking  on  our 
own  account.  And  at  last  even  the  teachings  of 
tradition  must  be  criticised  and  tested  by  the  facts 
of  our  own  experience  and  reason.  The  value  of 
traditional  knowledge  can  not  be  overestimated. 
It  represents  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  the  ages, 
and  furnishes  the  stepping-stones  to  all  progress ; 
ours  is  the  inheritance  of  all  the  past.  Others 
have  labored  and  we  have  entered  into  their  labors. 
By  race  consciousness  we  mean  simply  that  crys- 
tallization of  sentiment,  striving  and  experience 
of  humanity,  which  find  their  final  evolution  and 
formal  expression  through  the  consciousness  of 
some  individual  or  group  of  individuals  who  be- 
come the  spokesmen  of  their  day  and  generation. 
Such  knowledge  is  first  formulated  in  oral  tradi- 
tions, handed  down  from  parents  to  children.  It 
is  well  known  that  Homer's  "  Iliad  "  existed  in  this 
oral  form  long  before  it  was  committed  to  writing. 
The  same  might  be  said  of  the  early  stories  of  Gen- 
esis ;  and  it  is  known  that  there  are  a  number  of 
men  now  living  who,  were  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
Hebrew  entirely  destroyed,  could  reproduce  it 
word  for  word  Avholly  from  memory.  All  early 
literature  first  existed  in  this  oral  manner.  When 
first  discovered,  it  was  supposed  that  the  natives 


38  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

of  the  Sandwich  Islands  had  no  literature,  because 
they  possessed  no  written  language ;  but  when  the 
missionaries  learned  their  tongue,  it  was  found  that 
they  had  in  oral  possession  a  wonderful  epic,  por- 
traying the  traditions  of  their  race.  These  feats 
of  memory  are  not  so  prodigious  as  they  appear, 
but  are  largely  a  matter  of  practice  and  habit  of 
mind.  Fortunately  for  us  the  more  important 
oral  traditions  have  found  their  way  into  perma- 
nent written  forms. 

The  race  consciousness  is  formulated  by  social 
interaction.  We  are  all  influenced  by  our  environ- 
ment ;  no  man  liveth  unto  himself,  but  we  are  mem- 
bers one  of  another.  It  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand any  man  or  his  works  except  in  the  light  of 
the  age  in  which  he  lived ;  we  must  comprehend  the 
intellectual,  social,  and  even  material  conditions 
of  the  times  to  which  he  belonged.  There  is  a 
moral  atmosphere  in  which  every  man  lives  and 
moves  and  has  his  being,  and  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  rise  above  it.  Like  breeds  like,  and  unless 
there  be  a  community  of  like  spirits  of  lofty  aspi- 
ration which  form  a  society  for  the  culture  of 
given  ideals,  the  very  striving  of  the  individual  is 
nearly  sure  to  lose  its  way  in  the  midst  of  the  gen- 
eral darkness,  just  as  the  flower  will  perish  for  the 
lack  of  nourishment  and  the  sun.  A  Homer,  a 
Socrates,  or  a  Christ  is  a  product  of  his  peculiar 
age,  the  fruition  of  a  particular  soil,  the  voice  of 
his  day  and  generation.  He  who  best  compre- 
hends  the  longings   of  his   times  and  gives  them 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  39 

their  most  enduring  expression  is  the  true  prophet 
of  his  race.  The  Gospels,  accordingly,  must  be 
viewed  in  the  light  of  the  customs  and  spirit  of 
the  times  to  which  they  belong,  the  same  as  all  lit- 
erature. 

In  a  general  way  this  race  consciousness  has 
been  supposed  to  contain  the  infallible  truth ;  that 
is,  the  consensus  of  opinion  must  be  right.  This 
presupposes  that  such  consciousness  is  commensu- 
rate with  reality,  that  "  the  voice  of  the  people  is 
the  voice  of  God."  That  there  is  a  fundamental 
truth  in  this  notion  can  not  be  denied.  The  con- 
sensus of  opinion  in  many  matters  is  more  likely 
to  be  right  than  any  individual  judgment.  It  re- 
mains true  that  "  in  the  multitude  of  counsellors 
there  is  safety  " ;  this  is  especially  true  in  com- 
plex social  affairs  in  which  there  is  a  manifold  of 
experience.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain 
that  a  whole  race  may  entertain  through  centuries, 
and  hand  down  to  succeeding  generations,  wholly 
false  conceptions  and  systems.  And  in  religion 
there  has  been  no  exception  to  this  rule.  Indeed, 
religious  authority  has  been  about  as  often  wrong 
as  right.  When  Galileo  demonstrated  the  falsity 
of  the  Ptolemaic  astronomy,  and  maintained  ag- 
gressively the  Copemican  theory,  the  whole  official 
power  of  the  church  was  hurled  against  him,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  recant  upon  his  knees  before 
the  pope.  But  the  world  has  confirmed  the  funda- 
mental tenets  of  his  system  of  thought,  to  the  no 
small  chagrin  of  the  church.     A  few  great  per- 


40  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

sonalities  have  done  the  real  thinking  of  the  world, 
and  the  individual  has  been  right  instead  of  the 
race.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  not  in  many 
cases  can  it  be  said  "  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the 
voice  of  God."  This  legend  has  been  adapted  to 
frighten  potentates  rather  more  than  to  express  a 
philosophic  fact. 

Traditional  knowledge,  therefore,  has  its  decided 
limitation  of  value.  Human  thinking  is  full  of  er- 
ror, and  nowhere  more  so  than  in  religious  notions. 
This  abounding  error  naturally  results  from  the 
evident  limitations  of  human  intelligence  and  ex- 
perience. We  begin  our  lives  in  absolute  igno- 
rance ;  we  have  to  learn  everything.  And  the 
realm  of  existence  is  mysterious  and  hard  to  un- 
derstand. The  process  of  learning,  accordingly, 
has  been  slow  and  laborious.  Even  the  simplest 
facts  of  our  knowledge  have  been  obtained  only  by 
great  labor;  they  were  veiled  in  obscurity.  The 
ancients  gave  expression  to  this  hidden  nature  of 
knowledge  in  their  proverbial  wisdom :  "  It  is  the 
glory  of  God  to  conceal  a  thing;  but  the  honor  of 
kings  is  to  search  out  a  matter."  ^  We  have  had 
to  search  long  and  diligently  to  find  out  most  of 
our  exact  knowledge.  And  at  best  we  now  see 
through  a  glass  darkly,  as  regards  the  great  mean- 
ing of  life  and  the  world.  Often  the  data  of  the 
problems  with  which  we  have  to  deal  are  so  infin- 
itely complex  as  to  baffle  almost  all  skill.  But 
this  secret  nature  of  knowledge  stimulates  our  curi- 

3  Prov.  ,25 :  2. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  41 

osity,  which  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  motives  of 
the  mind,  and  gives  zest  to  all  our  inquiries.  Hence 
the  world  will  never  grow  old,  nor  be  divested  of 
problems  that  thrill  the  earnest  soul.  There  will 
always  be  worlds  for  Alexander  to  conquer. 

It  is  necessary,  furthermore,  to  distinguish  be- 
tween knowledge  and  belief.  Knowledge  may  be 
regarded  as  the  indisputably  given,  the  rationally 
self-evident,  or  the  cogently  deduced  from  unques- 
tionable facts.  But  it  may  often  be  difficult  to  de- 
termine such  facts,  and  in  lieu  of  them  we  fall  back 
upon  belief.  The  racial  beliefs,  or  fundamental 
convictions  of  humanity,  find  their  warrant  in  uni- 
versal experience,  which  they  seek  to  explain.  The 
human  mind  is  so  constituted  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  suspend  judgment;  and  accordingly,  when 
positive  knowledge  is  wanting  or  impossible  to  ob- 
tain, we  at  least  insist  upon  tentative  beliefs, 
which  become  confirmed  according  as  they  appear 
to  be  more  or  less  well-gi*ounded.  Our  knowledge 
is  small  as  compared  with  our  beliefs.  We  are 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  mystery ;  and  science, 
as  well  as  religion,  at  last  must  walk  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight.  The  ultimate  phases  of  life  and  the 
world  seem  to  present  a  riddle  beyond  human  un- 
derstanding. No  field  of  thought  contains  such 
profound  metaphysical  implications,  or  such  far- 
reaching  ethical  consequences,  as  the  religious. 
Here  we  seek  the  nature  of  the  absolute  Being 
in  which  all  things  have  their  grounds.  For  this 
reason  there  has  been  a  disposition  to  magnify  the 


42  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

mystical  characteristics  of  religion  to  the  neglect 
of  its  more  practical  and  ethical  significance. 
This  comes  about  from  the  fact  that  the  mind  in- 
stinctively seeks  finalities  and  is  satisfied  with 
nothing  less.  Begin  where  we  will,  we  are  led 
back,  step  by  step,  to  first  principles ;  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  nothing  is  finally  understood  until 
comprehended  from  this  vantage  ground.  Re- 
ligious problems  are  thus  closely  related  to  and  in- 
volved in  those  ultimate  metaphysical  principles 
by  which  we  rationalize  life  and  the  world.  For 
this  reason  religion  will  never  lose  its  perennial 
interest  for  man ;  if  we  could  think  of  its  being 
destroyed,  man  would  at  once  create  another  for 
himself. 

But  the  gravest  problem  of  interpretation  con- 
cerns the  difficulties  involved  in  the  communication 
of  knowledge  from  one  mind  to  another,  and  from 
age  to  age.  This  can  be  done  only  through  lan- 
guage, which  is  a  very  imperfect  medium  at  best. 
The  process  of  interpretation  has  back  of  it  a  very 
complex  psychological  groundwork.  The  simplest 
matter  of  intelligent  intercourse  is  mysterious  be- 
yond all  expression  in  the  detail  of  its  process.  If 
I  seek  to  give  oral  expression  to  a  thought,  in  so 
doing  I  simply  bring  my  vocal  organs  into  motion. 
This,  in  turn,  brings  the  air  into  vibration.  I  do 
not  even  make  a  sound  in  so  doing,  for  sound  is  a 
sense  —  a  distinctly  psychological  contribution 
—  wholly  different  from  the  mere  movements 
which  preceded.     Vibrations,  either  of  the  vocal 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  43 

organs  or  of  the  air,  are  not  sound,  which  is  a  men- 
tal event,  distinct  from  the  physical  states,  al- 
though occasioned  by  them.  Continuing  the  proc- 
ess, the  vibrating  air  strikes  the  orifice  of  the  ear 
and  is  gathered  into  its  delicate  and  wonderful 
mechanism,  finally  setting  the  tympanum  into  vi- 
bration, which  in  turn  so  affects  the  auditory 
nerves  as  to  propagate  these  vibrations,  in  molec- 
ular or  nervous  action,  to  the  central  organ,  the 
brain.  Here  the  effect  in  the  brain  is  translated 
by  the  mind  into  a  sound.  Different  vibrations 
are  interpreted  into  different  sounds,  and  the  vary- 
ing sounds  are  given  different  meanings,  according 
to  custom,  convention  or  agreement.  In  such 
manner  language  is  created. 

That  language  is  purely  arbitrary  may  be  seen 
from  the  fact  that  the  same  thought  may  be  ex- 
pressed by  different  words  and  in  various  lan- 
guages. There  is  always  the  danger,  also,  that 
the  communicating  mind,  because  of  more  or  less 
experience,  insight,  or  presupposition,  may  put 
into  words  that  which  may  not  be  recognized  as 
being  there  by  the  mind  addressed.  In  this  way 
misunderstandings  may  occur  in  all  our  dealings 
with  one  another.  If  I  desire  to  communicate  a 
thought  to  another,  it  is  evident  that  I  can  not  in 
any  way  give  him  my  thought, —  that  is,  actually 
convey  a  thought  from  my  mind  into  his.  All  I 
can  do  is  to  stimulate  him  to  think,  and  thereby 
interpret  the  physical  symbols  or  occasions  of 
thought,  and  thus  construct  in  his  own  mind,  not 


44  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

my  thought,  but  his  own  thought,  which  neverthe- 
less is  like  my  thought,  and  is  valid  for  it  in  logical 
content.  But  it  is  evident  this  must  be  the  con- 
structive work  of  his  own  mind.  There  always  re- 
mains, however,  the  danger  that  the  two  minds  will 
fail  to  put  into  a  notion  the  same  content,  and  so 
result  in  a  lack  of  validity  for  one  another.  This 
is  what  the  Sophists  meant  when  they  declared 
that,  even  if  knowledge  were  possible,  it  could  not 
be  communicated.  For  if  I  mean  one  thing,  and 
you  another,  by  a  given  notion  or  term,  or  if  there 
be  any  shade  of  difference  in  the  meaning  we  give 
them,  then  there  can  be  no  exact  understanding 
between  us.  How  we  can  know  the  thoughts  of 
one  another  is  impossible  to  say ;  but  that  we  do 
is  evident.  In  the  simplest  matter  of  thought 
communication,  so  far  as  the  details  of  the  process 
are  concerned,  we  have  a  mystery  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude. 

But  if  the  difficulties  of  the  spoken  word  be  so 
great,  even  greater  are  the  difficulties  in  connec- 
tion with  the  written  word.  Since  the  same  word 
may  have  various  meanings,  this  naturally  makes 
their  use  equivocal,  and  hence  their  interpretation 
may  be  indefinite.  Old  terms  often  have  to  be 
modified  or  extended  to  new  meanings  to  fit  them 
for  the  expression  of  new  ideas ;  and  this  involves 
the  detection  of  analogies,  associations,  and  a  high 
degree  of  generalization.  For  this  reason  the  dic- 
tionary definition  of  terms  rarely  suffices  for  ac- 
tual thought.     The  active  mind  is  under  obliga- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  45 

tlon  of  thinking  the  thing,  and  from  the  nature  of 
things  themselves  to  formulate  a  content  which  it 
puts  into  its  terms.  The  living  mind  can  not  use 
a  dead  language.  Language  also  serves  to  abbre- 
viate thought,  and  for  that  reason  becomes  both  a 
help  or  a  hindrance  to  it.  A  single  term  may 
stand  for  an  indefinite  number  of  concrete  or  par- 
ticular objects,  or  for  a  whole  body  of  experience. 
This  is  the  classifying  function  of  language,  and 
is  of  indispensable  value.  Without  it  we  could 
never  get  beyond  quite  elemental  thinking  of  the 
most  concrete  character.  On  the  other  hand,  this 
very  property  of  language  may  become  a  hindrance 
to  thought.  Verbal  distinctions  and  identifica- 
tions may  be  mistaken  for  real  ones,  and  we  may 
thus  get  into  the  habit  of  thinking  words  instead 
of  things.  Changes  in  words  may  be  mistaken  for 
changes  in  things,  and  for  clearness  we  may  again 
be  in  the  state  of  the  blind  leading  the  blind.^ 

Almost  as  often  as  otherwise,  words  are  used  as 
figures  of  speech.  No  function  of  language  is 
more  fruitful  than  this,  and  yet  none  fraught  with 
greater  possibility  of  error.  In  this  realm  lan- 
guage seems  to  attain  a  freedom  that  admits  of  al- 
most unbounded  expansion.  The  figurative  use  of 
language  is  found  employed  even  in  the  most  pro- 
saic and  matter-of-fact  sciences  as  well  as  in  lit- 
erature and  poetry.  The  emotional  life  abounds 
in  it,  while  the  realms  of  thought  and  volition  find 

4  Cf.  Bowne:  "Theory  of  Thought  and  Knowledge,"  pp. 
145,  ab. 


46  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

it  of  almost  equal  service.  It  is  in  this  sphere  that 
language  has  reached  its  climax  of  efficiency, 
richer  in  content  than  anywhere  else,  wrought  out 
by  the  labors  of  generations  of  poets,  sages  and 
philosophers.  It  is  peculiarly  the  language  of  the 
soul,  of  the  inner  spiritual  life.  With  it  a  Shakesr 
peare  plays  upon  the  mind,  reaching  every 
height  and  depth  of  fancy  and  emotion,  as  a  skilled 
musician  might  play  upon  a  great  organ ;  a  La- 
place sets  before  us  the  universe  as  a  faultless 
machine ;  and  a  Kant  takes  us  into  the  sacred  cham- 
bers of  the  soul  and  shows  us  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth.  This  possibility  of  language  is  sim- 
ply boundless. 

But  for  this  very  reason  the  problem  of  inter- 
pretation is  made  all  the  harder.  The  figures  in- 
volved may  be  mistaken  for  the  literal  thing.  From 
this  source  almost  every  subject  of  thought 
has  been  infested  with  mythologic  fancies.  Age- 
long doctrines  have  rested  on  no  better  founda- 
tion than  figures  of  speech.  And  since  it  is  true 
that  figures  may  be  drawn  from  purely  personal 
experience,  local  association,  or  exceptional  cus- 
tom, it  is  evident  that  they  may  not  only  be  diffi- 
cult but  even  impossible  to  interpret  by  anyone 
unfamiliar  with  these  conditions ;  and  since  these 
are  sure  to  be  modified  or  completely  changed 
from  age  to  age,  we  are  sure  to  meet  with  grave 
difficulties,  if  not  quite  insoluble  ones,  in  dealing 
with  historic  literature.  Figurative  language 
must  be  always  carefully  scrutinized,  with  the  aim 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  47 

to  get  at  the  real  underlying  meaning.  Nowhere 
is  this  more  important  than  in  religious  literature. 
The  Bible  itself,  in  large  part,  is  filled  up  with 
story,  poetry,  parable  and  apocalypse,  abound- 
ing in  similes,  metaphors  and  figures.  Disappoint- 
ment must  befall  whoever  undertakes  to  interpret 
these  things  literally.  Even  the  association  of 
words  gives  language  a  distinctive  value  and  con- 
tent quite  apart  from  their  logical  meaning,  and 
thereby  forms  inseparable  barriers  to  perfect  lit- 
erary translation.  A  misunderstanding  of  meta- 
phors is  one  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of  error 
to  which  we  are  subject. 

The  meaning  of  words  in  time  may  not  only 
change,  but  their  significance  may  be  wholly  lost 
or  greatly  obscured,  owing  to  their  separation 
from  the  circumstances  which  gave  them  their  pe- 
culiar meaning.  The  difficulty  of  interpreting 
any  ancient  writing  with  accuracy  is  accordingly 
self-evident.  It  is  well  known  that  the  eminent 
scholars  who  composed  the  Committee  on  Revision 
of  the  New  Testament  could  not  agree  on  the  trans- 
lation of  many  words  from  the  original  Greek, 
and  that  the  American  and  English  authorities 
gathered  into  such  separate  camps  of  judgment 
as  to  result  in  a  separate  American  translation. 
These  versions  differ  from  each  other,  from  the 
King  James  edition,  and  still  more  from  other  di- 
verging translations  by  special  scholars.  All 
these  varying  views  are  legitimate,  perhaps,  since 
the  exact  meaning  of  the  contested  words  can  no 


48  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

longer  be  given;  preference  of  judgment  is  there- 
fore allowable.  But  if  the  doctors  cannot  agree, 
what  shall  the  layman  do?  It  is  evident  that  in 
such  cases  precise  determination  of  meaning  can 
not  be  obtained,  and  final  adjudication  of  the  prob- 
lem must  be  made  by  falling  back  upon  life  and 
reason.  Accordingly  we  can  not  be  absolutely 
certain,  in  given  cases,  of  the  exact  message  which 
the  Gospel  brings  us. 

In  purely  oral  communications  with  one  another 
there  is  the  opportunity  to  correct  misunderstand- 
ings, by  varying  of  statement,  differing  analogies, 
change  of  figures,  and  modifications  of  thought. 
But  in  written  language  no  such  modifications  for 
the  aid  of  understanding  are  possible.  In  this 
case  what  is  written  is  written.  Hence  each  inter- 
preter of  literature  has  the  right  to  the  free  exer- 
cise of  his  intelligence  and  individual  judgments, 
in  so  far  as  they  are  justifiable  by  the  facts.  In 
most  cases,  also,  final  agreement  on  the  part  of  all 
can  hardly  be  hoped  for.  And  perhaps  it  is  better 
so  ;  for  the  needs  of  each  mind  may  be  better  served 
by  the  opportunity  of  reading  into  the  words 
its  own  constructive  thought  of  the  given  matter 
than  could  be  obtained  by  a  slavish  following  of 
another's  thought.  Some  hundreds  of  Christian 
sects  exist ;  all  read  from  the  same  Bible,  yet  each 
reads  into  it  the  peculiar  meaning  that  character- 
izes its  faith.  The  personal  equation  of  the  indi- 
vidual, wrought  out  by  the  whole  antecedent  his- 
tory of  his  existence,  determines  the  content  of  his 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  49 

thinking.  His  religious  views  are  fashioned  out 
of  his  presuppositions  rather  more  than  by  crit- 
ical reflection.  Our  only  hope  of  better  under- 
standing is  by  a  deepening  insiglit  into  truth,  a 
more  complete  rationalization  of  life ;  and  this  de- 
pends upon  a  more  perfect  discipline  and  thorough 
culture  of  mind  and  heart. 

Further  difl^culty  in  the  way  of  adequate  inter- 
pretation is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  judgment 
is  often  warped  by  prejudice  and  selfish  interest 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  mar  all  correctness  of  re- 
sults. This  ends  in  a  general  aberration  of  reason 
and  moral  veracity.  Party  interest,  personal  de- 
sires, ethical  obtuseness,  all  tend  to  obliterate  just 
estimates  of  conduct  and  life ;  and  this  in  turn 
finds  its  reflex  in  our  estimate  of  religious  concep- 
tions. It  seems  to  be  the  most  difl^cult  task  for 
the  mind  to  transcend  its  native  subjectivity  and 
rise  to  objective  ideas  that  are  universally  valid. 
Pure  subjective  notions  are  mistaken  for  objective 
fact,  and  we  become  victims  to  the  fallacy  of  pre- 
supposition. That  which  is  contained  in  the 
words  of  literature  constitutes  objective  fact,  but 
that  which  is  read  into  them  by  the  mind  is  a  sub- 
jective contribution.  The  objective  element  may 
be  fixed,  but  the  subjective  is  a  variable  factor. 
However,  in  the  end  we  are  compelled  to  fall  back 
upon  the  subjective  conscious  life,  as  experience 
reveals  it,  in  order  to  interpret  literature  at  all. 
The  thoughts  of  others  have  meaning  to  us  only  in 
so  far  as  we  verify  them  in  our  own  experience  and 


50  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

lives.  Correct  interpretation  must  necessarily 
depend  upon  the  degree  of  culture  and  thoughtful 
reflection  which  we  bring  to  the  task.  Catholicity 
of  mind,  liberal  sympathies,  profound  experience, 
genuine  methodical  discipline,  in  brief,  thorough- 
going scholarship  alone  is  adequate  to  the  under- 
taking. 

We  have  indicated  that  the  first  step  in  the  at- 
tainment of  knowledge  is  the  observation  and  de- 
termination of  the  facts  in  any  given  case.  But 
the  truth  of  facts  does  not  come  into  the  mind 
ready-made,  but  must  be  ascertained  by  careful 
analysis  and  discrimination.  And  to  this  end  the 
utmost  skill  is  required.  As  Huxley  observed,  the 
man  of  science  simply  uses  with  scrupulous  exact- 
ness the  methods  Avhich  we  all  habitually  and  at 
every  moment  use  carelessly.  From  the  correct 
perception  of  individual  characteristics,  we  have 
to  advance  gradually  to  a  knowledge  of  laws  and 
general  principles.  However,  we  must  guard  most 
carefully  the  lines  of  distinction  between  the  facts, 
as  such,  and  the  further  inferences  from  the  facts. 
Too  often  we  read  into  facts  whatever  suits  our 
purpose,  instead  of  inducing  from  them  the  war- 
ranted inferences ;  we  formulate  our  conclusions 
before  we  establish  our  premises.  There  is  prob- 
ably no  greater  source  of  error  than  this.  But 
even  when  the  facts  are  well  established,  it  so  hap- 
pens often  that  they  admit  of  a  variety  of  inter- 
pretations. And  when  they  are  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  exact  test  or  ex- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  51 

perimentation,  we  have  to  fall  back  upon  their 
total  implications,  judged  according  to  the  general 
laws  of  reason.  The  greatest  deficiency  in  think- 
ing is  carelessness,  both  with  regard  to  the  deter- 
mination of  the  facts  and  their  explanation.  In- 
deed, it  would  often  turn  out  that  there  would  be 
no  longer  any  difference  between  disputants  if 
they  would  only  stop  to  examine  the  facts  in  the 
case,  and  be  consistent  in  their  use  of  terms  in  con- 
nection therewith.  And  it  is  evident  no  proper 
interpretation  is  possible  apart  from  these  pre- 
conditions. 

Nevertheless,  even  after  the  facts  are  reasonably 
well  established,  so  complex  and  infinite  are  the 
phases  of  life  that  there  is  room  for  diverging  in- 
terpretations. There  are  many  matters  which 
are  so  subtle  and  indeterminate  that  there  will 
always  be  room  for  differences  of  opinion  concern- 
ing them.  In  no  field  is  this  more  the  case  than 
in  religion.  The  ultimate  metaphysical  problems 
which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  world  are  of  so 
speculative  a  character  that  they  can  never  be 
more  determinate  than  the  estimate  of  the  individ- 
ual judgment,  except  in  so  far  as  this  finds  recog- 
nition in  general  reason.  The  speculative  realm 
is  likely  to  remain  a  divided  one ;  and  the  soundest 
truth  and  philosophy  may  have  the  least  follow- 
ing, since  its  principles  lie  not  on  the  surface.  In 
the  nature  of  the  case  religious  philosophy  is  of 
a  very  subtle  and  subjective  character;  its  data 
is  more  complex  than  that  in  any  other  realm  of 


53  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

philosophic  thought,  in  that  it  embraces  the  whole 
profound  significance  of  human  life  and  experi- 
ence. Being  subjective  in  character,  it  can  be 
constructed  only  in  the  nature  of  reason  by  care- 
ful introspection  and  reflection  upon  the  meaning 
of  our  deepest  needs  and  the  total  implications  of 
our  lives.  There  is  no  external  standard  to  which 
thought  can  be  referred,  and  no  object  by  which 
it  may  be  measured ;  our  task  is  profoundly  and 
irredeemably  subjective. 

We  have  already  observed  the  unique  subjectiv- 
ity of  all  knowledge.  It  is  now  for  us  to  see  that 
even  revelation  itself  can  be  given  in  no  other  man- 
ner. If  God  will  reveal  Himself  to  men,  it  must 
be  by  subjective  communion  with  their  souls. 
This  is  evident,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  fact  that 
God  Himself  is  a  Spirit  and  has  no  phenomenal 
existence.  "  No  man  has  seen  God  at  any  time."  ^ 
That  God  can  communicate  His  thought  to  men, 
that  His  Infinite  Mind  can  act  on  our  finite  minds 
in  such  manner  as  to  reveal  His  will  to  us,  is  cer- 
tainly as  conceivable  as  the  fact  that  we  can  com- 
municate with  one  another.  In  order  to  know 
God's  thought  at  all  we  must  simply  think  it. 
God  speaks  to  men  by  the  still  small  voice  in  the 
heart  of  their  innermost  conscience  and  reason. 
As  an  old  theologian  wrote :  ''  There  is  no  faith 
save  in  the  heart  where  God  has  first  made  Himself 
heard,  and  there  are  no  divine  words  except  those 
which  faith  hears  in  the  innermost  sanctuary  of 

5  John  1:18. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  53 

the  soul."  Prophets  and  saints  who  have  im- 
agined that  they  heard  the  voice  of  God  outside 
themselves  were  victims  of  psychological  illusion. 
No  man,  unless  deluded,  can  honestly  declare  any- 
thing of  the  kind.  Even  external  signs  and  won- 
ders are  revelations  only  for  those  who  know  how 
to  view  them  and  who  are  able  to  comprehend  them 
in  a  spiritual  way.  To  Christ,  the  signs  of  God 
were  everywhere ;  Caiaphas  and  Pilate  saw  none. 
Even  the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
firmament  showeth  His  handiwork ;  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God  is  in  things  of  the  outer  world ;  but  the 
inspiration  of  God  is  within  the  inner  conscious- 
ness. "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man ;  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding."  ^ 
It  is  true  that  such  inner  revelations  of  God  are 
usually  made  in  connection  with  some  external 
event  in  nature  or  history ;  the  manifestation  of 
God  in  these  ways,  however,  is  a  matter  of  faith. 
Our  own  immediate  inner  consciousness  and  ex- 
perience are  the  surest  evidence  of  truth  and 
knowledge  we  possess ;  yet  the  inspiration  of  God 
in  the  inner  life  seems  not  less  a  matter  of  faith. 
But  faith  in  the  validity  of  our  deepest  experiences 
and  their  meaning  is  the  only  possible  ground  of 
human  knowledge  whatever.  All  knowledge  ulti- 
mately rests  upon  faith  in  the  laws  of  thought  and 
life.  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God 
—  or  ourselves. 

But   how    shall   this   individual    and    subjective 
6  Job  32:8. 


64  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

revelation,  made  in  the  depth  of  the  human  soul, 
become  objective  and  concrete?  How  shall  God 
as  revealed  in  the  subjective  consciousness  be  ob- 
jectively realized?  In  exactly  the  same  manner 
as  all  other  inner  experience  and  thought  what- 
ever ;  that  is,  through  language.  "  Out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh." 
And  speech,  in  turn,  is  transformed  into  Scrip- 
tures. All  sacred  writings  have  been  produced  in 
this  way.  They  belong  to  their  particular  age 
and  stage  of  divine  revelation,  and  are  not  all 
of  the  same  value.  The  highest  must  always  be 
that  which  contains  the  deepest  and  purest  expres- 
sion of  inner  ethical  religion.  Each  must  have  its 
rank  as  logically  determined  by  its  moral  worth. 
When,  therefore,  God  has  wished  to  speak  to  us. 
He  has  never  chosen  any  but  human  organs  and 
agencies.  With  whatever  inspiration  He  has  en- 
dowed men,  that  inspiration  has  passed  through 
human  subjectivity;  accordingly  it  has  been 
molded  now  and  again  by  uniqueness  of  personal- 
ity and  the  peculiarity  of  the  times.  No  one  can 
read  the  Gospels  or  the  writings  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Fathers  without  recognizing  their  form  and 
coloring  of  nationality,  logic  and  psychology.  In 
order  to  reveal  Himself  to  us,  God  has  had  to  avail 
Himself  of  our  human  thoughts  and  language. 
If  He  had  used  other  than  these  human  means  we 
could  not  have  understood  Him  at  all,  and  revela- 
tion would  have  failed  to  reveal.  God  has  always 
used  men  as  His  instruments.     Even  Christ  spake 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  55 

in  images  and  parables  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  could  have  spoken  effectually  in  no  other  way. 
His  words  address  the  heart ;  they  appeal  to  the 
subjective  life;  they  awaken  the  religious  need, 
only  to  satisfy  them.  In  this  manner  the  revela- 
tion of  God  in  the  individual  life  becomes  a  com- 
mon possession  and  a  historic  fact. 

Revelation  has  historically  developed  with  the 
progress  of  the  religious  and  moral  life  of  man.  Re- 
ligious faith  and  life  are  phenomena  of  conscious- 
ness ;  and  since  the  revelation  of  God  must  neces- 
sarily pass  through  human  subjectivity,  it  follows 
accordingly  that  He  prepares  the  subjects  of  reve- 
lation. "  When  God  wished  to  give  the  Decalogue 
to  Israel,  He  did  not  write  with  His  finger  on  the 
tables  of  stone ;  He  raised  up  Moses,  and  from  the 
consciousness  of  Moses  the  Decalogue  sprang. 
In  order  that  we  might  have  the  epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, there  was  no  need  to  dictate  it  to  the  Apos- 
tle ;  God  had  only  to  create  the  powerful  individu- 
ality of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  well  knowing  that  when 
once  the  tree  was  made  the  fruit  would  follow  in 
due  course.  The  same  with  the  Gospel ;  He  did 
not  drop  it  from  the  sky ;  He  did  not  send  it  by 
an  angel ;  He  caused  Jesus  to  be  born  from  the 
very  bosom  of  the  human  race,  and  Jesus  gave  us 
the  Gospel  that  had  blossomed  in  his  innermost 
heart."  ^  In  this  manner  God  has  revealed  Him- 
self in  the  consciousness  of  great  spirits  in  all 
ages ;  and  in  all  pietj  there  is  some  manifestation 
^  A.  Sabatier:  "Philosophy  of  Religion,"  ch.  II,  p.  57. 


56  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

of  God.  Such  revelation,  however,  is  immediate 
for  all,  even  for  the  least  of  us  as  well  as  for  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets.  We  all  have  direct  ac- 
cess to  personal  communion  with  God ;  God  speaks 
to  us  in  precisely  the  same  way  that  he  spake  to 
Abraham  or  Isaiah.  Were  it  otherwise  we  could 
never  understand  religious  literature  at  all.  The 
historic  forms  of  revelation  were,  at  first,  particu- 
lar and  individual ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  may 
say  that  every  special  revelation  in  personal  sub- 
jectivity, if  it  be  really  from  God,  tends  to  become 
universal  as  a  human  possession. 

But  no  individual  and  historic  form  of  revela- 
tion can  be  absolute  in  character.  The  human 
agency  of  revelation  necessarily  limits  it ;  and  it  in 
turn  must  limit  itself  to  human  receptivity. 
"  The  vessel  is  always  earthen,  even  if  the  content 
is  divine."  This  commingling  of  the  human  and 
the  divine  elements  in  religion  is  manifest  on  every 
hand.  For  the  most  part  mankind  has  looked  out- 
side itself  for  the  purpose  of  finding  an  objective 
revelation  and  infallible  form  of  religion.  And  in 
this  way  men  have  bound  upon  themselves  burdens 
grievous  to  be  borne.  They  have  left  little  scope 
for  interpretation  and  freedom  of  thought.  Pure 
spirituality  is  not  easy  to  realize.  That  God  is 
Spirit  seems  hard  to  grasp,  and  accordingly  men 
are  always  attaching  themselves  to  some  outer  im- 
age of  human  origin.  We  are  ever  making  for 
ourselves  idols. 

The  Bible  itself  has  been  made  a  fetish.     The 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  57 

doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  coming  down  to  us 
from  the  Middle  Ages,  has  led  men  to  think  that 
God  directed  the  hand  of  the  prophets  and  apos- 
tles in  such  manner  that  they  were  mere  automata 
in  writing  the  Scriptures,  and  that  the  very  let- 
ters which  they  wrote  were  inerrant.  We  hear 
echoes  of  this  notion  even  yet  by  the  decisions  of 
church  councils  in  their  declarations  of  biblical  in- 
fallibility, notwithstanding  the  knowledge  of  pal- 
pable errors  and  self-evident  contradictions.^  In 
this  manner  a  glamour  of  awe  and  superstition  has 
come  to  cluster  around  our  sacred  literature.  As 
the  ancients  believed  God  to  dwell  in  the  holy 
mountain  or  at  Jerusalem,  the  modern  world  has 
made  Him  to  dwell  within  a  Book.  And  as  the 
Roman  Church  has  set  up  an  infallible  pope,  so 
Protestantism  has,  on  the  other  hand,  set  up  an 
infallible  Bible,  as  Sabatier  ^  has  so  well  shown, 
neither  of  which  can  be  successfully  maintained. 
The  Bible,  as  we  may  believe,  does  unquestionably 
reveal  the  mind  and  will  of  God  to  a  very  high  de- 
gree, and  that  notwithstanding  its  imperfections. 
And  it  helps  not  the  cause  of  religion  to  insist  on 
infallibility  purely  sentimentally  when  the  facts 
are  against  us. 

The  aim  of  the  Bible  is  to  communicate  spiritual 
truth  to  men,  but  by  exalting  the  letter  which  is 
the  means  of  revelation  they  are  constantly  killing 
the  spirit  which  it  contains.      Men  are  ever  being 

8Cf.  St.  Matt.  2T:9. 

9  A.  Sabatier:     "Religions  of  Authority." 


58  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

deluded  by  the  frail  instrumentalities  through 
which  the  divine  truth  comes.  It  is  for  this  rea- 
son that  interpretation  is  so  baffling  a  matter. 
The  only  sure  method  of  procedure  is  to  fall  back 
upon  the  known  psychological  laws  and  plain  facts 
of  human  experience.  The  mental  processes  are 
the  same  in  the  religious  realm  as  in  all  others, 
the  only  difference  being  in  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
ject-matter dealt  with.  Furthermore,  any  divine 
element  of  inspiration  may  be  admitted  as  opera- 
tive through  human  instrumentality.  Man  has 
the  consciousness  of  God  and  divine  things,  but  this 
comes  not  through  the  senses,  but  only  through  the 
subjective  laws  of  reason.  We  know  God  through 
thought  only.  And  it  seems  not  unreasonable 
that  God  would  specially  manifest  Himself  to  the 
spirits  of  noble  men  who  dwell  much  in  thought 
of  Him  and  of  eternal  things.  We  may  justly 
think  of  the  minds  of  all  men  as  being  inspired  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  just  in  proportion  as  they  will 
open  their  hearts  and  minds  to  the  divine  influence. 
Nevertheless,  the  purely  human  element  will  always 
so  predominate  as  to  make  certain  a  large  degree 
of  fallibility ;  this  view  readily  accounts  for  such 
like  errors  as  we  have  noted.  If  God  had  given 
the  Bible  to  men  in  the  manner  which  many  seem 
to  imagine,  then  it  would  be  a  matter  of  wonder  in- 
deed that  it  should  contain  any  errors  or  contra- 
dictions ;  but  when  we  view  it  as  a  mosaic,  a  com- 
pilation of  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  race, 
traced   through   many   centuries   and   written   by 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  59 

many  authors,  gathering  up  in  itself  the  traditions 
of  many  widely  scattered  peoples,  and  giving  ex- 
pression thereto  in  legend,  poetry  and  philosophy, 
then  it  becomes  clearly  intelligible.  In  nature, 
God  is  revealed  in  the  laws  of  phenomena ;  in  the 
Bible,  God  is  revealed  in  the  higher  thoughts  of 
men. 

Because  of  the  profoundly  subjective  character 
of  religion,  it  is  little  wonder  that  there  has  been 
much    confusion    concerning    it.     And    yet    more 
strange  is  it  that  the  doctrines  of  religion  should 
have  gained  such  currency  and  general  acceptance 
in   view   of   such   speculative   possibilities.     This, 
perhaps,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  tuitional 
nature  of  mankind ;  like  children,  the  race  largely 
follows  traditions  implicitly,  and  in  this  way  doc- 
trines become  time-worn  and  sacred.     And  what- 
ever becomes  dogmatically  accepted  is  liable  to  live 
on  by  the  inertia  of  thoughtlessness.     In  this  man- 
ner, irrational  dogmas  have  held  sway  over  the 
minds  of  men  for  a  thousand  years,  almost  un- 
challenged.    The  history  of  the  past,  therefore, 
is  what  it  was  natural  to  have  expected ;  for  the 
unthinking  disposition  and  the  herding  instinct  of 
mankind  have  kept  men  in  line  with  popular  doc- 
trines, even  though  they  be  fallacious.     But  this 
is  not  an  altogether  unfortunate  circumstance ;  for 
only  in  such  manner  could  society  ever  have  been 
brought  to  any  harmonious  and  concerted  action. 
It  is  only  by  such  unanimity  of  thought  that  the 
truth  itself  may  gain  a  commanding  following  and 


60  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

bear  rule  in  the  earth.  It  is  this  conservatism, 
this  inertia  of  society,  we  may  say,  that  serves  as 
the  balance  wheel  of  progress.  Where  a  people 
have  gone  astray  into  error,  this  persistent  dispo- 
sition may  lead  to  bodeful  results ;  but  when  truth 
and  right  have  been  enthroned,  it  but  guarantees 
the  enriching  and  deepening  of  their  beneficent  in- 
fluences. 

But  since  divine  revelation  must  come  through 
individual,  subjective  personality,  what  is  to  be  the 
criterion  by  which  we  may  recognize  its  validity? 
What  constitutes  an  authentic  revelation  of  God? 
The  answer  is :  It  must  be  of  such  character  that 
it  can  be  tested  in  our  own  experience,  verified  in 
our  own  inner  consciousness,  established  by  sober 
reason.  A  religious  experience,  in  order  to  gain 
recognition  as  a  divine  revelation,  must  be  able  to 
repeat  and  continue  itself  as  actual  in  the  lives  of 
men.  Whatever  fails  of  this  possibility  can  not 
be  a  genuine  revelation.  The  deepest  visions  of 
Isaiah  or  St.  Paul  must  be  wide  open  to  all  men 
for  verification  in  their  own  lives,  or  their  revela- 
tions can  be  no  revelation  at  all  to  them.  A  reve- 
lation, in  order  to  be  genuine,  must  be  one  which  all 
men  may  experience  and  verify  as  true  within  them- 
selves. The  prophets  have  not  intended  to  im- 
pose their  experience  upon  us  from  without,  and 
thereby  save  us  from  experience  of  our  own,  or 
make  such  experience  superfluous.  Truth  and  ex- 
perience can  not  be  vicarious,  or  borrowed  from 
seers  and  saints,  but  must  be  subjectively  and  in- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  61 

dividually  wrought  out.  We  can  know  anything 
only  by  knowing  it.  Hence  a  revelation  which  can 
not  be  realized  in  us  can  not  exist  as  valid  for  us. 

Objective  revelation,  at  best,  can  be  no  more 
than  a  guide  to  the  free  spirit.  We  are  explicitly 
invited  to  prove  all  things  and  to  hold  fast  only 
that  which  is  good.  Knowledge  rests  back  upon 
experience, —  therefore  experiment ;  if  you  will 
verify  a  truth,  try  it.  Christ  himself  fully  recog- 
nized this  ultimate  ground  of  validity  and  belief 
when,  in  the  last  stand  he  made  to  establish  his  re- 
lationship with  the  Father,  he  said  to  the  Jews : 
"  Though  you  believe  not  me,  believe  the  works."  ^^ 
The  Scriptures,  therefore,  as  a  divine  revelation 
through  prophets  and  seers,  is  not  a  yoke  to  bind 
us,  but  a  lamp  to  illumine. 

lost.  John  10:38. 


CHAPTER  III 
SPIRITUAL  PRIMACY 


"If  any  man  is  able  to  convince  me  and  show  me 
that  I  do  not  think  or  act  aright,  I  will  gladly  change; 
for  I  seek  the  truth,  by  which  no  man  was  ever  in- 
jured." 

Marcus  Aurelius,  "  Thoughts/'  VI:  21,  22. 

"  Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit." 

St.  Matthew  4:  1. 

"  And  Jesus,  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  returned  from 
the  Jordan,  and  was  led  in  the  Spirit  in  the  wilder- 
ness, during  forty  days,  being  tempted  of  the  devil." 
Luke  4:  1-2.      (Amer.  Stand.  Vers.) 

"  A  creed  is  a  rod. 
And  a  crown  is  of  night: 
But  this  thing  is  God :  — 
To  be  man  with  thy  might  — 

To  grow  straight  in  the  strength  of  thy  spirit,  and 
live  out  thy  life  as  the  light." 
A.  C.  Swinburne,  "  Songs  before  Sunrise," 

p.  85  ("Hertha"). 


CHAPTER  III 
SPIRITUAL  PRIMACY 

The  record  that  Christ  was  led  up  of  the 
"  Spirit  "  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the 
devil  suggests  to  our  minds  at  once  the  primal 
significance  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  world.  It 
is  the  living  spirit  that  has  guided  men  in  all  ac- 
tion and  accomplishment.  And  intellectual  su- 
periority and  power  have  set  man  high  above  all 
the  rest  of  the  world.  The  achievements  of  hu- 
man thought  are  the  glory  of  the  race  far  more 
than  any  material  values.  When  we  consider  the 
history  and  worth  of  literature,  science,  and  phi- 
losophy, we  are  constrained  to  exclaim  with  Sir 
William  Hamilton :  "  In  all  the  world  there  is 
nothing  great  but  man,  and  in  man  there  is  noth- 
ing great  but  mind." 

The  character  of  man  is  revealed  in  his  thought. 
This  fact  found  embodiment  in  the  ancient  prov- 
erb :  "  As  he  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  ^ 
That  is,  what  a  man  loves,  the  real  desires  of  his 
mind,  which  by  primitive  peoples  were  supposed 
to  have  their  seat  in  the  heart  because  its  beatings 
were  quickened  by  every  absorbing  thought  and 
emotion, —  these    manifest    the    real    man.     As    a 

1  Proverbs  23:7. 

65 


66  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

man  thinks  so  he  increasingly  becomes ;  good 
thoughts  will  bless  a  man,  evil  thoughts  will  damn 
him.  Accordingly  nothing  can  be  of  more  im- 
portance to  sane  and  healthful  living  than  the 
proper  culture  and  direction  of  our  thought. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  vulgarity  and  sloven- 
liness of  thought  which  becomes  the  source  of  de- 
based action  and  character.  It  is  only  by  staying 
our  minds  on  noble  ends  that  we  become  ennobled. 
On  the  other  hand,  by  permitting  the  mind  to 
dwell  upon  madness,  men  become  mad ;  by  harbor- 
ing malice  and  wickedness,  men  become  malicious 
and  wicked.  St.  Paul  pictures  to  us  in  his  own  in- 
imitable way  the  fruition  of  this  spirit  of  unright- 
eousness in  the  condition  of  pagan  Rome  when,  as 
he  declares,  God  had  given  them  over  to  a  repro- 
bate mind.  He  represents  an  unspeakable  condi- 
tion to  have  prevailed  that  eclipsed  even  the 
infamy  of  Sodom,  and  gives  the  eternal  city  the 
ignoble  distinction  of  having  been  the  very  acrop- 
olis of  sin.  Thus  the  consequences  of  our  thought 
are  momentous.  A  man  may  no  more  indulge  in 
vicious  thought  with  impunity  than  in  vicious  acts. 
Hence  the  exhortation :  "  Keep  thy  heart  with  all 
diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life."  ^ 
This  truth,  wrought  out  of  sober  experience,  is 
the  very  epitome  of  wisdom.  What  we  love  we 
become  like ;  if  we  love  God  we  become  God-like. 

It  is,  then,  the  spirit  of  man  that  determines  his 
weal  or  woe.     From  their  intellectual  and  moral 
2  Proverbs  4:23. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  67 

freedom  men  are  impelled  to  make  or  unmake 
themselves,  thereby  choosing  their  own  destiny. 
In  the  midst  of  imperfections,  malevolence,  and  a 
world  of  mysteries  only  partly  revealed,  man  must 
by  trial  and  rejection  work  out  for  himself  a 
worthy  content  and  value  to  life.  We  are  free  to 
constitute  our  inner  lives  according  to  our  ideals. 
But  this  is  a  task  to  be  performed,  a  goal  to  be 
won.  Life  is  strife,  and  if  no  pains,  no  gains. 
Life,  to  be  a  worthy  end,  must  be  a  spiritual 
achievement. 

The  place  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  man,  in  re- 
lation to  his  general  well-being,  has  but  recently 
become  fully  realized.  Psychological  hygiene  has 
now  become  a  definite  part  of  therapeutic  science, 
and  in  a  number  of  medical  colleges  chairs  of  psy- 
chotherapy have  been  founded.  It  has  always 
been  evident  that  the  mind  exercises  a  powerful  in- 
fluence over  the  body  as  well  as  itself.  Sickness 
and  even  death  have  been  produced  from  the  work- 
ing of  nothing  other  than  profound  impressions 
upon  the  mind  alone.  Hence,  to  fill  our  minds 
with  congenial  atmosphere  and  sane  conceptions 
is  at  least  to  furnish  the  needed  environment  for 
all  physical  and  mental  health.  A  right  frame  of 
mind  is  the  indispensable  precondition  for  making 
the  best  of  every  circumstance.  This  is  the  rea- 
son why  faith  or  belief  is  the  one  condition  of 
mighty  works,  and  the  lack  of  faith  the  inevitable 
ground  of  failure.  Christ  himself  could  not  heal 
the  faithless. 


68  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

The  practical  success  of  the  psychotherapeutic 
cults  rests  on  the  fact  that  they  cultivate  a  mys- 
tical atmosphere  of  faith  in  the  omnipresent  good, 
and  limit  evil  to  our  mind's  making.  This  is  but 
an  exaggeration  of  the  old  sentiment  that  "  noth- 
ing is  either  good  or  bad  but  thinking  makes  it  so." 
And,  without  doubt,  thinking  it  does  make  it  so, 
so  far  as  we  are  personally  concerned ;  for  what 
appears  true  to  our  minds  can  not  appear  other- 
wise, except  as  we  have  a  different  insight  and 
change  our  conception  as  to  what  is  true.  Hence 
that  is  true  for  us  which  we  think  to  be  so,  whether 
it  is  true  as  objective  fact  or  not.  But  it  remains, 
nevertheless,  that  what  we  think  is  true,  although 
true  for  us,  may  not  really  be  true  in  fact. 
Thinking  can  not  alter  objective  facts  nor  make 
them.  That  mind  alone  makes  its  evil,  therefore, 
is  only  a  partial  truth,  since  the  law  of  the  cosmic 
order  itself  brings  immense  suffering  and  at  last 
death.  It  is  true  that  through  this  very  suffer- 
ing man  is  disciplined  in  all  his  powers  and  espe- 
cially developed  morally ;  and  as  this  is  the  only 
rational  reason  for  man's  existence  at  all,  it  might 
be  inferred  that  the  so-called  cosmic  evil  is  only  a 
beneficent  order  in  disguise.  The  physical  evils 
would  thus  indirectly  contribute  to  man's  perfect- 
ing, and,  although  regarded  as  evils,  ultimately 
lead  to  his  higher  good.  This  indeed  seems  to  be 
the  only  rational  interpretation  of  pain  and  suf- 
fering, and  even  this  is  difficult  to  make  out. 

But  that  Christ  was  led  of  the  "  Spirit  "  im- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  69 

plies  a  still  deeper  meaning  to  spiritual  primacy ; 
for  in  this  notion  we  have  a  basal  metaphysical 
world-view.  In  this  connection  there  are  only 
two  conceptions  of  the  absolute  Being  which  are 
essential :  The  one  theistic,  in  which  the  basal 
reality  of  God  is  assumed  to  be  intelligent  spirit ; 
the  other  atheistic,  in  which  mechanical  material- 
ism alone  represents  the  all  of  existence.  Now  it 
is  altogether  vital  as  to  which  of  these  views  shall 
prevail.  It  is  evident  that,  if  the  Gospels  are  to 
have  any  valid  meaning  at  all,  or  religion  to  be 
well-grounded,  the  former  assumption  must  be 
found  tenable ;  for  if  the  latter  conception  be  true, 
there  would  be  no  God  and  no  spirit,  and  our  dis- 
cussion would  be  foolishness.  By  what  reasons, 
therefore,  may  the  theistic  claim  be  maintained? 
It  is  not  in  our  province  here  to  discuss  fully  the 
relative  merits  of  spiritualism  and  materialism, 
but  rather,  in  a  summary  way,  to  show  the  utter 
inadequacy  of  materialism  as  a  world-system,  and 
to  indicate  the  grounds  for  belief  in  a  spiritual 
world-Being.  Materialism  is,  by  the  very  impli- 
cation of  its  terms,  a  system  of  mechanical  neces- 
sity. Action,  accordingly,  is  along  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  or  the  resultant  of  the  parallelo- 
gram of  forces.  Intelligence,  as  such,  can  not  be 
admitted  into  such  a  system ;  thought  is  but  a 
product,  a  mere  shadow  of  material  activity. 
Both  choice  and  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  are 
excluded  from  materialism ;  the  end  is  inevitably 
determined  from  the  beginning,  and  in  all  cases 


70  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

necessitated.  Matter,  motion  and  force  are  the 
only  elements  in  such  system,  which  go  on  in  re- 
distribution and  endless  evolution  without  mean- 
ing and  without  end.  Materialism  can  have  no 
foresight ;  it  is  blind,  and  knows  no  law  but  neces- 
sity.    Hence  materialism  is  inadequate,  because : 

1.  It  fails  to  provide  for  the  fact  of  purpose, 
and  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  as  manifest  in 
the  whole  organic  world.  That  the  many  living 
types  of  existence  could  be  the  mere  chance  result 
of  blind  mechanical  forces  is  unthinkable.  Adap- 
tation always  implies  choice  and  a  selective  activ- 
ity, which  indicates  free  intelligence. 

2.  It  is  evident  that  in  a  system  of  necessity, 
error  is  just  as  necessary  as  truth.  But  a  system 
which  makes  error  necessary  is  necessarily  sui- 
cidal, for  in  that  case  knowledge  is  impossible, 
One  thing  would  be  just  as  true  as  another,  and 
all  distinctions  would  fade  out.  Thus  we  would 
land  in  complete  scepticism.  Freedom  is  neces- 
sary to  all  intellect  in  order  that  knowledge  may 
be  possible. 

S.  Materialistic  necessity  can  make  no  provi- 
sion for  moral  responsibility.  In  such  a  system, 
man  is  only  an  automatic  machine,  and  to  hold 
him  responsible  for  his  acts  would  be  absurd.  The 
notion  destroys  the  possibility  of  all  morality. 
Moral  responsibility  implies  the  power  to  freely 
choose  between  alternative  courses  of  action,  and 
if  this  be  denied  man  is  not  responsible.  Voli- 
tional freedom  is  the  precondition  of  all  ethics, 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  71 

just  as  freedom  of  judgment  is  of  knowledge. 
Materialism  can  account  for  neither. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  spiritual  world-view  sug- 
gests the  only  possible  explanation  of  those  facts 
which  materialism  fails  to  interpret.  The  evi- 
dences of  purpose  and  marvelous  adaptations  of 
the  world  find  no  meaning  except  as  the  work  of 
intelligence.  Order,  system,  means  to  ends,  are 
the  true  marks  of  a  rational  working  in  the  world. 
And  that  intelligence  is  found  at  all  in  the  world 
implies  that  there  must  be  intelligence  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  absolute  Being,  for  intelligence  can 
never  arise  from  the  non-intelligent.  It  is  beauti- 
ful and  wonderful  to  behold  how  all  phases  of  the 
world,  from  the  microscopic  to  the  telescopic,  lend 
themselves  to  scientific  classification  and  system. 
The  world  is  intelligible  only  as  the  product  of  in- 
telligence. 

Furthermore,  the  harmonious  interaction  of  the 
manifold  world  is  explicable  only  as  it  is  based  on 
a  spiritual  ground.  In  order  to  exist  as  an  or- 
ganic system  there  must  be  an  exact  adjustment 
of  each  interacting  member  with  all  the  others ; 
each  acts  as  it  does  because  of  its  relation  to  the 
whole,  and  the  being  of  each  must  be  related  to  the 
being  of  all.  That  is,  back  of  all  plurality  there 
must  be  a  basal  unity.  This  is  implied  in  the  very 
notion  of  a  tmi-verse.  Hence,  the  interaction  of 
the  many  is  possible  only  through  the  immanent 
activity  of  a  One.  But  real  unity  seems  to  be 
found  nowhere  except  in  conscious  spirit ;  free  in- 


n  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

telligent  selfhood  is  the  only  unity  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge.  Accordingly,  the  notion  is 
not  only  religiously  but  metaphysically  well- 
grounded  that  the  Absolute  Being,  in  order  to  give 
unity  to  the  world,  must  necessarily  be  an  Intelli- 
gence. Philosophy,  as  well  as  theology,  maintains 
that  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  seeketh  such  to  worship 
Him. 

Coming  now  to  the  fact  that  Christ  was  "  led 
up  of  the  Spirit,"  our  specific  problem  of  interpre- 
tation is  to  understand  the  agency  and  manner  of 
this  leading.  And  in  this  connection  two  suppo- 
sitions are  possible:  1.  The  assumption  that  God 
so  superimposed  His  Spirit  upon  the  mind  of 
Christ  that  he  in  turn  became  only  a  passive  in- 
strument in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty.  2.  The 
notion  that  Christ  was  led  of  his  own  "  spirit,"  or 
mind,  by  inner  conscious  conviction,  and  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner  as  are  all  men. 

1.  The  first  assumption  is  the  one  usually  taken 
for  granted.  Evidence  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
unique  practice  of  capitalization  in  our  English 
versions  of  the  Gospels,  which  we  suspect  may  be 
misleading  or  even  deceiving  in  its  effects.  Such 
capitalization  is  indulged  in,  outside  the  stereo- 
typed rules,  with  almost  any  license  whatever. 
By  thus  deifying  "  Spirit  "  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  we  do  not  give  it  an  emphasis  and  mean- 
ing which  it  should  not  possess.  At  least  it  does 
not  require  such  interpretation  in  the  original 
Greek,    although   we   may    admit   that   such  view 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  73 

might  be  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  in 
which  the  literature  was  created.  But  that  this 
is  the  necessary  interpretation  of  the  words  can 
not  be  adequately  supported. 

But  the  question  is  not  one  of  words,  but  of  the 
thought  involved.  And  there  are  certainly  grave 
objections  to  the  view  that  the  Spirit  so  led  Christ 
that  he  became  merely  a  passive  agent,  for  this 
would  be  to  rob  the  occurrence  of  all  moral  signif- 
icance, and  indeed  to  prostitute  it  to  a  most 
wooden  artificiality.  It  would  be  either  reduced 
to  a  mere  stage-play,  lacking  seriousness,  or  be 
lifted  up  into  the  realm  of  the  miraculous,  which 
might  ever  remain  a  matter  of  awe,  but  could  never 
yield  any  moral  value.  As  a  matter  of  religious 
sanity,  interpretation  must  always  seek  to  render 
explanation  in  the  simple  terms  of  human  experi- 
ence ;  for  all  outside  this  can  have  no  real  mean- 
ing. 

Furthermore,  if  we  should  give  the  words  a  lit- 
eral meaning,  the  divine  Spirit  would  be  repre- 
sented as  having  led  Christ  forth  for  the  express 
purpose  of  being  tempted  of  the  devil,  a  supposi- 
tion which  is  not  in  harmony  with  our  general  no- 
tion of  the  moral  character  of  God,  and  repugnant 
to  the  conception  that  He  delighteth  not  in  evil. 
External  compulsion  robs  the  occurrence  of  all 
worth  or  meaning,  and  we  must  find  its  ethical 
value  in  another  way. 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  there  seems  to  be  no  rea- 
son for  precluding  the  interpretation  that  Christ 


74  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

was  led  of  the  free  initiative  of  his  own  spirit,  by 
the  inner  promptings  of  his  own  mind,  to  go  apart 
into  the  secret  place  of  the  wild,  where  he  would 
not  be  disturbed  by  intrusion,  there  to  give  himself 
over  to  reflection  and  self-examination.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  this  would  simplify  the  problem 
very  greatly,  and  bring  it  within  the  range  of  hu- 
man experience  and,  therefore,  of  human  under- 
standing. Such  a  course  would  have  been  nothing 
exceptional  on  his  part,  for  it  was  a  custom  of  the 
times,  and  finds  exemplification  in  the  life  of  John 
the  Baptist  and  other  of  the  prophets.  The  as- 
cetic life  of  the  wilderness  seems  to  have  been  the 
school  of  the  ancient  religious  leaders  among  all 
peoples,  and  especially  among  the  Hebrew  and 
early  Christian  founders. 

We  may  suppose  that  Christ  turned  apart  into 
the  wilderness  for  the  purpose  of  examining  his 
deepest  impulses  concerning  his  mission  in  the 
world,  which  evidently  began  to  take  form  at  this 
period  of  his  development.  He  desired  to  make 
sure  of  his  calling;  and  there  is  no  reason  for 
thinking  that  he  did  this  in  any  other  way  than 
you  or  I  are  led  to  pursue  a  given  course,  by  care- 
ful deliberation  and  examination  of  our  fitness 
for  the  task.  He  went  into  a  place  apart  for  se- 
cret prayer  and  for  a  devout  searching  of  his  way. 
And  in  this  struggle  of  Christ,  at  the  very  opening 
of  his  career,  when  with  grave  temptations  before 
him  he  was  endeavoring  to  choose  between  the 
alternatives  of  life,  we  have  a  picture  that  is  true 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  75 

to  experience.  For  who  is  there  that,  having  ar- 
rived at  the  threshold  of  life's  serious  business, 
has  not  been  set  about  with  sore  perplexities  as  to 
the  course  he  should  follow?  How  often  indeed 
are  young  men  buffeted  with  doubt  and  fear  as 
they  attempt  to  decide  their  life's  calling!  To 
every  earnest  mind  this  momentous  day  has  in  it  a 
determination  of  destiny,  a  hidden  weal  or  woe. 

And  we  may  well  understand  how,  at  this  crucial 
juncture,  Christ  would  have  undergone  many  mis- 
givings and  doubts,  many  fears  and  falterings,  as 
he  reflected  upon  the  mighty  and  perilous  program 
which  was  set  before  him.  Would  it  not  have  been 
natural  for  him  to  have  hesitated  before  such  an 
undertaking,  and  to  have  been  tempted  to  have 
taken  an  easier  and  surer  course.?  Would  it  not 
have  appeared  as  a  veritable  temptation,  almost 
objective  in  form  and  of  the  very  devil,  as  in  the 
intense  struggle  of  his  soul  he  wrestled  with  the 
one  or  the  other  course  of  possible  evasion?  In- 
deed, we  can  readily  imagine  that  all  the  terrors 
of  one  attempting  to  flee  from  the  very  presence 
of  God  might  have  come  upon  him  as  he  struggled 
with  the  impulse  to  the  service  of  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil,  as  over  against  the  imperative 
call  of  conscience  to  the  establishment  of  the  eter- 
nal kingdom  of  righteousness.  The  choice  which 
Christ  was  called  upon  to  make  was  more  momen- 
tous than  any  other,  for  it  was  grounded  in  the 
depths  of  the  moral  nature.  His  choice,  like  that 
of  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  was  typ- 


76  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ical  of  all  possible  alternatives  between  good  and 
evil. 

But  the  assumption  that  Christ  was  led  of  his 
own  spirit  into  the  wilderness  must  not  preclude 
the  possibility  that  his  mind  may  have  been  influ- 
enced by  the  divine  Spirit.  Yet  if  this  were  so, 
it  must  be  evident  to  all  that  it  was  in  an  inner 
and  subjective  manner  that  such  influence  was 
wrought.  We  have  seen  that  the  only  way  we 
can  know  anything  is  by  thinking  it,  and  it  is 
clear  that  Christ,  as  a  unitary  mind,  could  know 
anything  only  in  this  same  way.  Supposing, 
therefore,  that  God  did  seek  to  determine  the 
action  of  Christ,  He  could  have  done  so  only  by 
addressing  his  intelligence ;  that  is.  He  would  have 
had  to  stimulate  Christ  to  think  for  himself  the 
thought  desired.  God  could  not  have  put 
thoughts  into  his  mind  any  more  than  He  can  into 
ours. 

The  intercommunication  of  minds  is  mysterious 
in  any  case,  but  just  as  it  is  possible  for  one  finite 
mind  to  communicate  with  another,  so  is  it  compre- 
hensible that  the  Infinite  Spirit,  which  is  immanent 
in  all  things  and  omnipresent  everywhere,  may  be 
able  even  more  certainly  to  communicate  with  our 
spirits.  However  mysterious  this  may  appear, 
it  is  the  evident  implication  of  the  theistic  view  of 
the  world,  and  has  been  a  matter  of  belief  in  all 
ages.  The  witness  of  such  divine  communication, 
however,  must  be  found  in  the  depths  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul,  and  nowhere  else.     God  speaks  only 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  77 

the  language  of  the  heart.  Even  though  men 
may  mistake  it,  it  is  primarily  in  the  inner  con- 
sciousness that  God  reveals  His  will  to  men,  and 
we  can  not  know  how  Christ  could  have  received  it 
in  any  other  way.  When  men  say  that  God  has 
led  them  to  a  certain  course  of  action,  therefore, 
they  mean  that  God  has  brought  a  given  truth  to 
their  consciousness ;  that,  perhaps  by  the  still 
small  voice  of  conscience,  they  believe  His  will  has 
been  made  known.  The  writers  of  the  Gospels 
themselves  could  have  had  no  other  view  than  this. 
To  conceive  of  Christ  having  been  led  of  the  Spirit 
in  any  other  way  than  this  would  be  to  think  of 
him,  not  as  a  free  intelligence  impelled  from 
within,  but  as  an  automaton  driven  from  without. 
Hence,  in  any  circumstance,  we  must  hold  that 
Christ  was  led  of  God  in  just  the  same  manner  as 
all  men  are  led  of  Him. 

Finally,  then,  in  so  far  as  the  divine  Spirit  may 
have  been  instrumental  in  the  leading  of  Christ 
forth  into  the  wilderness,  it  would  have  been  not 
for  the  purpose  of  being  literally  tempted  of  the 
devil,  but  solely  for  the  sake  of  his  moral  disci- 
pline. It  is  only  by  being  tried  and  tested  in 
adversity  that  men  grow  strong.  Christ  was  to 
be  proven  for  his  task.  Man  can  become  morally 
perfect  only  through  suffering,  by  the  withstand- 
ing of  temptation,  and  the  overcoming  of  evil  by 
doing  good.  In  no  other  way  is  it  possible  for 
man  to  fully  realize  himself.  It  is  through  error 
that  we  are  brought  to  the  truth ;  it  is  through 


78  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

evil  that  we  come  to  righteousness ;  it  is  through 
suffering  that  we  reach  joy  and  peace.  And  in 
view  of  the  disciplinary  character  of  life,  Christ's 
going  apart  into  the  wilderness  for  reflection,  self- 
examination,  and  the  proving  of  himself  was  but 
natural,  and  in  substance  was  just  what  every 
truly  great  mind  has  had  to  do.  It  was  a  conflict 
of  the  inner  spirit  and  the  spirit's  triumph. 

The  preceding  interpretation  of  the  "  Tempta- 
tion "  seems  to  be  the  simple  and  natural  one.  Yet, 
because  traditional  theology  has  set  up  the  unique 
claim  of  divinity  for  Christ,  complete  discussion 
requires  us  to  examine  the  possible  divergence  of 
thought  in  connection  with  this  notion.  And,  re- 
duced to  its  lowest  equation,  our  problem  here  be- 
comes simply :  What  was  the  relation  of  Christ 
to  the  divine  *'  Spirit  "  ?  There  has  never  been 
a  great  amount  of  clear  thinking  concerning  this 
matter.  For  the  most  part  certain  conceptions 
have  been  historically  received,  and  our  doctrines 
constructed  so  as  to  harmonize  with  them,  instead 
of  an  earnest  attempt  to  construct  a  rational  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  from  the  original  facts.  We  con- 
fine our  criticism  to  a  few  general  phases  of  the 
subject. 

1.  According  to  the  first  view,  it  is  held  that 
Christ  was  God.  In  harmony  with  this  the  Ro- 
man and  Greek  churches  worship  Mary,  the 
mother  of  Christ,  as  the  mother  of  God;  and  the 
second  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  religion  of  the 
Church  of   England,  which  may  be   regarded   as 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  79 

fairly  representative  of  the  Protestant  concep- 
tion, declares  that  the  Son  is  "  the  very  and  eter- 
nal God,  and  of  one  substance  with  the  Father."  ^ 

Now,  if  this  be  regarded  as  a  statement  of  real 
fact,  it  is  evident  that  the  relation  of  Christ  to 
the  divine  "  Spirit  "  was  one  of  immediate  identity. 
In  that  case  there  could  be  no  question  as  to  his 
own  spirit  having  led  him  into  the  wilderness, 
since  the  "  Spirit  "  could  have  been  none  other 
than  his  own.  But  if  Christ  be  regarded  as  the 
very  God,  then  the  unity  of  the  divine  personality 
precludes  the  possibility  of  God  the  Father 
being  other  than  Christ,  and  this  would  be  to  ob- 
literate all  distinctions  of  thought,  and  land  us  in 
inextricable  difficulties.  The  insistence  on  this  ex- 
treme doctrine  has  always  brought  Christian- 
ity into  disrepute  before  the  thinking  world.  It 
has  resulted  in  scepticism  instead  of  faith.  It  is 
questionable  whether,  in  practical  life,  apart  from 
closet  speculations  and  verbal  entanglements,  men 
ever  do  seriously  hold  such  belief. 

That  Christ  was  God  is  formally  a  perfectly 
clear  notion,  however  inadequate  we  may  regard  it 
as  to  fact.  But  when  we  seek  to  relate  this  with 
the  conception  of  the  Father  as  God,  with  distinct 
personality  in  each,  we  reach  an  insoluble  meta- 
physical riddle.  The  formula  declares :  "  And  in 
unity  of  this  Godhead  there  be  three  Persons,  of 
one  substance,  power,  and  eternity ;  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^ 
3  "Prayer  Book":    "Articles  of  Religion." 


80  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

The  designation  of  personality  in  Christ  and 
God  is  understandable,  but  why  the  ancient  doc- 
tors should  have  set  apart  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  a 
third  "  person,"  distinct  from  the  identity  of  God 
Himself,  is  past  all  comprehension.  It  would  be 
legitimate  to  think  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  mode 
of  God's  manifestation ;  but  if  it  be  hypostatized 
into  a  separate  existence,  it  has  to  be  unhesitat- 
ingly rejected.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  God.  The  unity  of  God  is  inviolable. 
As  between  God  and  the  Spirit  of  God,  there  can 
be  nothing  but  verbal  distinction.  All  else  is  but 
fiction  of  the  imagination. 

It  is  doubtful  if  a  more  untenable  formulation 
was  ever  constructed  than  the  doctrine  of  plural 
personalities  in  the  Godhead.  Personality  can  ex- 
ist only  as  an  indivisible  unity.  Apart  from  this 
fact  it  would  have  no  meaning.  But  if  there  be 
supposed  to  be  plural  personalities  in  the  Godhead, 
there  must  be  then  as  many  separate  and  distinct 
unities  as  there  are  personalities.  But  this,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  would  destroy  the  basal 
unity  of  the  Godhead.  In  this  conception,  Chris- 
tianity falls  apart  into  a  system  of  tri-theism  in- 
stead of  monotheism.  But  a  monotheistic  ground 
alone  is  tenable  as  the  fundamental  conception 
of  the  absolute  Being.  The  first  article  of  reli- 
gion saves  us  in  this  respect :  "  There  is  but  one 
living  and  true  God."  ^  A  monistic  philosophy 
is  the  deepest  and  most  mandatory  requirement  of 
4  "  Prayer  Book":     "Articles  of  Religion." 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  81 

thought.  But  if  this  be  true  and  our  reasoning 
valid,  Christ  can  not  be  regarded  as  the  very  God, 
and  the  dogma  must  be  given  up.  The  necessary 
unity  of  personaHty  makes  the  doctrine  untenable. 

An  etymological  doctrine  has  been  constructed 
by  theologians.  The  Latin  persona  was  the  mask 
worn  by  the  actor  to  represent  various  characters. 
The  "  persons  "  of  the  Trinity,  accordingly,  are 
the  masks  of  God,  in  His  different  characters.^ 
It  is  doubtful  if  this  has  any  grounds,  and  in  any 
event  is  metaphysically  untenable.  We  turn  to 
examine  another  view. 

2.  According  to  this,  Christ  is  conceived  as  the 
Son  of  God.  But  in  what  does  this  modification 
aid  our  thought?  It  at  least  sets  off  Christ  from 
God,  and  presents  them  both  as  having  distinct 
personality.  But  even  here  we  run  into  the  dan- 
ger of  assuming  a  duality  of  absolute  Being;  for 
if  Christ  be  regarded  as  co-eternal  with  God,  as 
declared,  then  it  would  appear  that  there  must 
have  been  two  Gods  instead  of  one,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  untenable.  The  only  way  of  escap- 
ing this  outcome  is  to  conceive  of  the  Son  as  cre- 
ated by  the  Father.  Only  in  this  way  could 
Christ  have  attained  to  a  distinct  otherness  from 
God,  and  at  the  same  time  both  be  able  to  retain 
the  unity  of  their  personality.  In  this  sense 
Christ  would  have  been  the  Son  of  God  exactly  as 
we    are    all    children    of    the    heavenly    Father, — 

5Cf.  Shedd:  "Hist.  Chris.  Doct,"  Vol.  I,  p.  371; 
Harris :    "  God,  Creator  and  Lord  of  All,"  Vol.  I,  p.  329. 


82  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

namely,  children  because  we  are  created  by  Him. 

In  conceiving  the  Son  as  created  by  the  Father 
we  are  troubled  primarily  with  the  temporal  ele- 
ment. On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  urged  that 
this  difficulty  may  be  entirely  eliminated  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  Infinite, —  that  is,  God  the  Father  may 
be  regarded  as  having  eternally  created  the  Son; 
or,  as  in  the  ancient  words,  he  may  have  been 
"  begotten  from  everlasting  of  the  Father." 
This  would  be  the  same  as  to  say  that,  al- 
though God  the  Father  must  be  conceived  as  the 
unitary  Cause  of  all  existence,  yet  by  the  very  es- 
sence of  His  nature  He  eternally  created  the  Son. 
This  does  not  remove  the  fact,  however,  that  Christ 
was  dependent  upon  God  the  Father  and  could  do 
nothing  without  Him.  That  is,  Christ  was  not  of 
himself  eternal,  and  therefore  absolute ;  and  even  if 
he  be  conceived  as  eternally  "  begotten,"  or  cre- 
ated, which  seem  to  be  almost  contradictory  terms, 
nevertheless  he  must  be  thought  of  as  fundamen- 
tally dependent  upon  God  the  Father.  This  must 
be  admitted  to  save  our  thought  from  a  basal  du- 
alism, which  we  have  seen  to  be  untenable. 

Even  though  Christ  be  regarded  as  the  Son  of 
God,  yet  he  must  ever  remain  in  the  position  of  a 
Son, —  namely,  subordinate  and  dependent  upon 
the  Father ;  and  this  dependence,  in  a  metaphysical 
sense,  must  be  absolute.  If  Christ,  then,  be 
thought  of  as  possessing  eternal  existence  with  the 
Father,  it  could  be  only  by  the  Father's  eternal 
creative  act;  and  it  would  be  only  in  the  fact  of 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  83 

this  eternal  creation  that  Christ  could  be  set  off 
from  all  other  finite  spirits ;  for  he  would  be  as  de- 
pendent upon  God  as  we  are.  It  must  be  added 
that  creation  is  a  deep  mystery.  In  order  to 
maintain  the  unity  of  God,  we  can  not  conceive  of 
Him  making  the  world  or  any  creature  out  of 
Himself;  nor  could  there  be  anything  else  what- 
ever out  of  which  to  make  them.  Hence  God  can 
be  thought  of  as  none  the  less  after  creation, 
and  as  having  added  nothing  to  Himself  thereby. 
By  creation  we  can  only  mean  that  something  is 
which  before  was  not.  And  even  the  "  before  " 
and  "  after "  are  excluded  in  the  eternal.  De- 
pendence upon  the  self-existent  is  our  only  possible 
mode  of  expression  here.  How  creation  is  possible 
is  the  secret  of  the  ineffable  Cause. 

Again,  when  it  is  declared  that  the  Son  is  "  of 
one  substance "  with  the  Father,  nothing  more 
can  be  meant  but  that  they  are  both  of  spiritual 
essence ;  and  in  this  respect  it  is  held  that  all  men 
are  like  God,  for  we  are  regarded  as  having  been 
created  in  His  image  and  likeness.  Thus  the 
spirit  of  man  is  thought  of  as,  in  essence,  like  unto 
the  Spirit  of  God.  We  suppose,  for  example,  that 
two  times  two  are  four;  that  the  true  is  true  and 
the  false  is  false;  that  the  good  is  good  and  the 
bad  is  bad,  to  God  and  man  alike,  and  indeed  to 
all  intelligences  whatever.  Unless  there  be  this 
universal  community  of  intelligence  knowledge  is 
impossible,  and  we  may  as  well  abandon  the  prob- 
lem.    To  be  sure,  our  thought  is  not  the  same  as 


84  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

God's  thought  in  operation  and  effect,  but  only 
in  logical  content.  It  is  evident  that  God's 
thought  makes  reality ;  our  thought  neither  makes 
nor  unmakes  anything,  but  finds  all  ready  made. 
When  Kepler  declared :  "  When  I  read  the  secrets 
of  nature,  I  am  but  thinking  the  thoughts  of  God 
after  Him,"  he  had  in  mind  the  profound  fact  that 
even  the  laws  of  phenomena  are  but  expressions 
of  the  mind  of  God.  God,  as  Spirit,  has  created 
like  spiritual  beings. 

Finally,  the  fact  of  his  absolute  dependence 
upon  the  Father  is  fully  recognized  in  the  express 
declarations  of  Christ  himself.  '*  The  Father 
that  dwelleth  in  me,  he  doeth  the  works."  ^  "  My 
Father  is  greater  than  I."  ^  It  is  true  that  over 
against  this  we  may  recall  that  he  also  said  that : 
"  I  and  my  Father  are  one."  ^  But  we  are  com- 
pelled to  recognize  that  they  were  one  only  in  spirit 
and  moral  purpose,  not  in  person  and  real  exist- 
ence. The  patent  truth  is  that  the  Father  is 
greater  than  the  Son,  in  that  the  Son  must  derive 
all  being  and  power  from  the  Father.  Christ, 
therefore,  must  have  attained  to  selfhood  and 
moral  and  intellectual  freedom  in  just  the  same 
manner  as  do  all  other  created  spirits.  Hence 
Christ  must  have  been  led  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  the  same  way  that  all  men  are.  St.  Luke  in  his 
narrative  seems  to  make  this  explicit :  "  And  Je- 
sus,  full  of  the  Holy   Spirit,   returned  from  the 

est.  John  14:10. 

7  St.  John  14:28. 

8  St.  John  10:  30. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  85 

Jordan,  and  was  led  in  the  Spirit  in  the  wilderness 
during  forty  days,  being  tempted  of  the  devil."  ® 
We  may  observe  that  the  doctrine  of  the  pre- 
existence  of  Christ,  although  not  **  a  priorily  " 
impossible,  is  so  mysteriously  speculative  as  to  re- 
main always  a  matter  of  verbal  belief  rather  than 
of  rational  warrant.  One  may  not  be  blamed,  at 
least,  for  holding  it  in  doubt.  It  is  primarily 
based  on  the  sacrificial  notion  of  Christ,  which  be- 
littles the  ideal  of  God  and  is  hardly  creditable  to 
man.  It  must  be  granted,  however,  that  there  are 
words  which,  taken  literally,  seem  to  imply  pre- 
existence,  but  it  may  be  questioned  if  these  have 
not  been  strained  to  over-meaning.  Nevertheless, 
there  is  one  philosophic  argument  that  has  been 
advanced  for  the  preexistence  of  Christ  which 
seems  to  possess  a  certain  weight :  namely,  that  the 
ethical  nature  of  God  demands  a  social  basis.  The 
moral  nature  of  man  requires  a  social  life  for 
its  exercise,  and  without  it  we  can  hardly  know 
what  such  life  would  mean.  Hence  if  Christ  were 
eternally  created  by  the  Father  there  would  have 
been  the  social  relation  of  the  divine  family,  in 
which  all  the  ethical  virtues  would  have  found 
sphere  of  action.  If  God  be  love,  there  needs 
must  be  an  object  for  His  love  and  justice.  The 
isolated  unity  of  God,  unapproachable  and  inef- 
fable, seems  not  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  ethical 
nature  which  we  conceive  must  belong  to  Him ;  and 

9  St.  Luke  4:1;  Stevens  and  Burton:    "Harmony  of  the 
Gospels." 


86  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

this  suggestion  of  a  social  condition  in  the  nature 
of  the  Godhead  seems  to  satisfy  our  speculative 
thought  in  the  matter.  Thus  it  turns  out  that 
the  Unitarian  conception  of  God  has  in  it  a  meta- 
physical foundation  which  is  absolute  and  unshak- 
able ;  and  the  Trinitarian  conception,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  the  strongest  possible  ethical  and  prac- 
tical grounds.  Both  views  find  at  least  permission 
in  the  criticism  which  we  have  sought  to  present. 
3.  The  third  view  of  Christ  in  relation  to  God 
concerns  the  doctrine  of  his  incarnation.  Here  he 
is  explicitly  regarded  as  the  "  begotten  "  of  the 
Father.  But  the  recorded  manner  of  Christ's 
birth  has  always  been  a  stumbling-block  to 
thought,  because  so  outside  of  ordinary  human 
experience.  And  concerning  the  immaculate  con- 
ception and  virginal  birth,  we  may  venture  to  say 
that  it  is  certainly  not  necessary  to  regard  them 
as  dogmas  indispensable  to  the  Christian  faith. 
When  we  take  into  account  the  vast  amount  of 
apocr3rphal  ^^  writings  concerning  Christ,  it  would 
seem  to  be  not  unwarranted  to  think  that  these 
dogmas  may  have  arisen  as  mere  legends  which 
gathered  around  his  life,  as  so  many  others  did, 
and  that  his  followers,  long  after  he  passed  away, 
incorporated  them  into  their  narrative  to  account 
for  what  seemed  to  them  a  miraculous  life.  This 
possibility  at  least  can  not  but  be  acknowledged 
by  all.     It  was  the  spirit  of  the  age.     It  may  be 

10  Cf.    Bernhard   Pick:    "The    Extra-Canonical    Life    of 
Christ." 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  87 

added,  however,  that  the  real  Hfe  and  teaching  of 
Christ,  their  historic  world-forming  power,  their 
regenerating  influence  in  the  lives  of  men,  are  in 
nowise  diminished,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
manner  of  his  birth.  These  are  the  all-compelling 
witnesses  of  him  that  abide. 

But  a  closer  examination  of  the  process  of  gen- 
eration makes  it  appear  that  the  birth  of  Christ  in 
any  case  was  not  essentially  different  from  that  of 
all  men.  We  have  seen  that  metaphysics  enforces 
upon  us  the  unitary  nature  of  the  soul.  Without 
unity  of  soul,  the  judgment,  memory,  and  all  in- 
telligence whatever  would  be  impossible.  Hence 
it  is  impossible  for  the  souls  of  parents  to  be  split 
up  and  passed  along  to  children ;  souls  as  unities 
can  not  be  so  divided.  Accordingly  we  must  think 
that  parents  render  only  a  bodily  medium,  and 
that  God  implants  the  soul  of  the  child  in  each  case, 
just  as  in  the  beginning  He  breathed  into  Adam 
the  breath  of  life  and  he  became  a  living  soul. 
Nor  can  souls  be  regarded  as  diremptions  from 
God,  as  we  have  seen,  for  the  unity  and  integrity 
of  God  as  the  supreme  Intelligence  makes  such  di- 
vision unthinkable.  Souls,  then,  in  all  cases  must 
be  thought  of  as  created. 

This  view  of  generation  seems  a  novel  one  only 
because  of  our  habitual  bondage  to  the  senses ;  we 
give  heed  to  outer  appearance  rather  than  to  the 
inner  meaning.  The  conception  here  maintained 
certainly  has  in  it  wholesome  practical  implica- 
tions.    For  example,  when  we  take  into  account 


88  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

that  each  soul  is  a  direct  and  immediate  creation 
of  God,  how  profoundly  real  becomes  the  notion 
that  we  are  all  of  us  children  of  God  our  Father ! 
Furthermore,  as  creatures  direct  from  his  hand, 
we  all  stand  on  a  plane  of  equality  before  Him; 
God  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  How  hopeful,  too, 
is  this  conception  as  over  against  the  fatalistic 
pessimism  of  the  doctrine  of  heredity  and  original 
sin !  Everyone,  therefore,  shall  have  to  give  an 
account  only  of  himself  and  not  for  another.  It 
is  hard  to  conceive  how  the  moral  justice  of  God 
could  be  executed  toward  men  on  any  other  condi- 
tion. 

But  it  follows  from  this  creational  conception  of 
generation  that  in  a  very  proper  sense  every  soul 
is  "  conceived  "  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  just  as  truly 
as  was  Christ  himself.  Nor  on  this  ground  would 
there  be  any  objection  to  the  belief  that  Joseph 
was  the  natural  father  of  Christ,  unless  there 
could  be  positive  knowledge  to  the  contrary.  The 
problem  may  be  insoluble,  but  it  is  significant  that 
the  oldest  of  the  Gospels,  according  to  St.  Mark, 
makes  no  mention  whatever  as  to  the  manner  of 
the  conception  and  birth  of  Christ.  The  last  of 
the  Gospels,  according  to  St.  John,  entirely  evades 
the  question.  St.  Luke,  who  is  regarded  as  most 
accurate  in  historic  fact,  so  presents  the  account 
of  the  birth  of  Christ  that  if  we  had  no  other,  we 
would  at  once  conclude  that  he  was  born  of  natural 
parents  as  are  all  other  children.  St.  Matthew 
alone,  who  is  least  accurate  in  statement  of  fact, 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  89 

and  most  liberal  in  the  use  of  mystical  tradition, 
gives  an  account  of  the  conception  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  but  weaves  the  story  in  with  the  visionary 
prophecy  in  such  legendary  terms,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted by  thinkers,  that  the  whole  matter  is  thrown 
into  question,  to  say  the  least.  The  epistles  of 
St.  Paul  and  the  apostles,  which  are  older  than  the 
Gospels,  make  no  acknowledgment  of  a  supernat- 
ural birth.  It  certainly  is  not  unreasonable  to 
place  the  authority  of  St.  Luke  over  against 
that  of  St.  Matthew,  and  if  there  be  any  uncon- 
vinced of  the  so-called  dogma  of  virginal  birth, 
it  appears  that  they  should  hardly  be  cast  out  of 
the  synagogue  therefor. 

But  what  gave  rise  to  the  dogma  of  the  virginal 
birth?  We  have  suggested  that  perhaps  it  may 
be  legendary,  and  historically  it  may  have  had  such 
origin.  But  it  appears  more  likely  that  it  had 
much  deeper  grounds.  The  idea  of  a  virginal 
birth  has  its  roots  in  the  notion  that  there  is  some- 
thing essentially  sinful  and  irredeemably  corrupt 
in  the  order  and  manner  of  sexual  generation. 
Sin  and  all  evil  inhered  in  matter,  in  the  "  flesh," 
and  consequently  all  physical  generation  was  sup- 
posed to  be  contaminated.  This  appears  to  have 
been  the  thought  of  the  Psalmist  when  he  cries: 
"  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity ;  and  in  sin  did 
my  mother  conceive  me."  ^^  Now  it  might  have 
been  true  that  the  Psalmist's  mother  did  commit 
some  sin  in  his  conception  which  was  known  to  the 

11  Psa.  51 : 5. 


90  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

son  and  is  unknown  to  us ;  but  to  suppose  in  gen- 
eral that  it  is  a  sin  for  a  virtuous  woman  to  con- 
ceive and  bear  children  in  lawful  wedlock  is  an 
enormity  of  thought  that  can  be  regarded  as  noth- 
ing less  than  the  product  of  a  diseased  mind.  The 
notion  that  there  was  something  essentially  sin- 
ful and  weak  within  our  physical  natures  seems  to 
have  prevailed  in  the  thought  of  the  ancient  world 
as  well  as  in  the  modern.  We  find  little  trace  of 
it,  however,  in  the  Gospels.  The  nearest  approach 
to  it  in  the  mind  of  Christ  is  recorded  in  his  words 
when  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane :  "  Watch  and 
pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation :  the  spirit 
indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak."  ^^  And  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  this  is  not  merely  an 
accommodated  use  of  the  term  in  a  figurative  sense. 
St.  Paul,  however,  seems  to  be  fully  persuaded  of 
this  doctrine,  and  uses  the  notion  both  literally 
and  symbolically, —  that  is,  it  could  be  shown,  he 
sometimes  uses  the  flesh  as  a  symbol  for  the  whole 
body  of  sin,  rather  than  as  a  specific  doctrine  of 
the  sinfulness  of  the  flesh. 

The  reason  for  the  dogma  of  the  virginal  birth 
is  found  in  the  assumption  of  defilement  in  the  act 
of  physical  generation.  It  is  of  the  earth  earthy, 
it  is  of  the  "  flesh."  Why  such  notion  as  this  ever 
became  prevalent  is  not  easy  to  say.  Two  general 
explanations  are  possible:  First,  it  may  be  the 
echo  of  a  guilty  conscience,  in  which  case  the  doc- 
trine would  have  a  purely  psychological  ground. 
12  St.  Matt.  26:  41. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  91 

The  sexual  impulse  is  necessarily  strong  in  order 
to  guarantee  the  perpetuation  of  the  race ;  but  be- 
cause of  this  fact  there  is  the  disposition  to  in- 
dulge this  impulse  in  a  wholly  wanton  and  sinful 
way,  and  this  may  be  the  practice  either  in  wed- 
lock or  in  a  promiscuous  manner.     The  practice 
of  sexual  function,  when  not  for  the  natural  pur- 
pose of  propagation,  but  for  mere  lustful  gratifi- 
cation, is  evidently  sinful  and  would  find  its  reflex 
in   a   condemned   conscience.     Like   all  pain,   this 
serves  as  a  warning  for  self-preservation  and  the 
instrument    of   restraint.     Wanton   indulgence   is 
not  only  a  sin,  but  is  the  sure  agency  of  death. 
Alexander  the  Great  is  said  to  have  declared  that 
cohabitation  was  the  one  thing  that  made  him  real- 
ize   that    he    was    mortal.     Because    of    the    dele- 
terious  consequences   of  irrational   indulgence,   it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  ancient  mind, 
in  its  speculation,  came  to  regard  the  process  of 
generation  as  having  something  essentially  evil  in 
it.     Hence   all   mankind,   born   according   to   the 
flesh,  was  thought  to  be  tainted  with  original  and 
constitutional  sin. 

Growing  out  of  this  conception  was  the  comple- 
mentary one  which  regarded  that  all  men  of  ex- 
ceptional talents  were  born  of  the  gods.  The  di- 
vine right  of  kings  was  a  notion  which  rested  on 
the  belief  in  their  divine  origin.  Because  of  divine 
and  immaculate  origin,  the  king  could  do  no  wrong. 
He  was  of  the  immortals.  Now  this  general 
idea  is  not  wanting  in  the  Bible,  as  may  be  seen  in 


92  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

Genesis  when  it  records  that  the  sons  of  God  saw 
the  daughters   of  men  that  they  were  fair;  and 
that  they  took  them  wives  of  all  that  they  chose, 
and  they  bore   children  to  them:  the  same  were 
the  mighty  men  which  were  of  old,  the  men  of  re- 
nown. ^^     This  is  evidently  an  appropriation  of  the 
mythologic  conception  universal   among  all  peo- 
ples.    This  same  hero  worship  is  seen  in  the  crown 
of  immortality  which  the  Hebrew  people  placed 
upon  the  brow  of  some  of  their  great  prophets. 
Thus  Moses  is  recorded  to  have  been  buried  by 
Jehovah  Himself ;  and  that  there  has  not  arisen 
a  prophet  since  in  Israel  like  Moses,  "  whom  Je- 
hovah knew  face  to  face."  ^*     And  in  a  still  more 
pronounced  form  we  are  able  to  see  the  process  of 
deification  of  men  when  the  great  prophet  Elijah 
was  taken  up  in  a  fiery  chariot  by  a  whirlwind  into 
heaven.     This  translation  is  practical  immortali- 
zation.^^    With  such  conceptions  as  these  filling 
the  ancient  mind,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
promised  and  long  expected  Messiah,  who  accord- 
ing to  the  Hebrew  thought  was  to  be  clothed  with 
a  dignity  and  glory  above  all  others,  should  be  re- 
garded as  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost, —  that  is, 
in  this  literal  sense  made  to  be  a  Son  of  God?  ^^      It 
seems  reasonable  to  say  that  just  this  is  what  was 
to  be  expected.     The  immaculate  conception  and 
the  virginal  birth  are  postulated  of  the  Messiah 

13  Gen.  6:1-4. 

i4Deu.  34:1-6. 

15  II  Kings  2:11. 

lelsa.   7:14  and  Matt.    1:23. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  93 

in  order  to  save  him  from  polluted  origin,  and  ex- 
plain his  remarkable  life,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  heroes  of  all  ages  have  been  accounted  for. 
In  this  manner  Christ  may  have  become  psycho- 
logically deified.  All  that  refused  to  believe  in 
him  did  so  because  of  his  supposed  lack  of  such 
high  origin.  "  Is  not  this  the  son  of  Joseph?  "  ^^ 
they  asked.  "  If  he  were  born  of  the  flesh,  then  his 
words  were  blasphemy,"  declared  the  Sanhedrin. 
But  Christ,  with  marvelous  indifference  as  to  what 
men  might  think  of  him,  with  calm  reasonableness 
urged,  "  Though  ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the 
works."  ^^  And  thus  was  Christ  rejected  and  cru- 
cified because  his  immaculate  origin  was  disbelieved 
by  the  rulers ;  and  he  was  deified  in  the  traditions 
of  his  disciples,  because  they  believed  it.  In  this 
manner  are  the  saints  enthroned  and  dethroned  in 
the  vain  thoughts  of  men. 

Although  the  psychological  grounds  suggested 
for  the  origin  of  the  notion  that  there  is  a  taint  of 
corruption  in  the  birth  according  to  the  flesh  seem 
to  have  in  them  the  weight  of  truth  and  experience, 
yet  the  doctrine  had  a  historic-philosophic  ground- 
ing, which  gave  it  the  profoundest  expression  and 
greatest  potency  in  Christendom.  It  found  its 
classic  statement  in  the  metaphysics  of  Plato,  who 
accounted  for  the  fact  of  evil  by  a  fundamental 
dualism.  That  is,  he  conceived  the  world  of  real- 
ity  to   be   divided   into   two   antithetical   spheres, 

17  St.  John  6:42. 

18  St.  John  10:38  and  14:11. 


94  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

"  ideas,"  and  matter.  The  "  ideas  '*  were  the  spir- 
itual prototypes  of  all  individual  things,  and  com- 
pare in  general  with  what  we  in  the  present  time 
designate  as  mind  in  contrast  to  matter.  Now 
matter,  in  Plato's  thought,  is  the  seat  of  all  evil ; 
and  since  the  body  or  "  flesh  "  is  composed  of  mat- 
ter, it  is  evil,  and  serves  as  a  prison-house  for  the 
soul.  We  shall  not  be  free  from  sin  and  error, 
therefore,  until  we  again  reach  the  realm  of  the 
"  ideas  "  from  which  we  have  come.  Mind  and 
matter  are  equally  real  and  eternal, —  that  is,  they 
are  original  being.  But  they  are  set  over  against 
each  other  in  eternal  warfare.  All  evil  then  has 
its  seat  in  the  flesh  which  ever  wars  against  the 
spirit.     Thus  man  is  divided  against  himself. 

The  Christian  doctrine  of  sin  and  evil  inhering 
in  the  flesh,  as  taught  by  St.  Paul  particularly, 
was  most  likely  a  following  of  Plato's  philosoph}^ 
with  which  all  the  apostles  were  probably  familiar. 
Greek  was  the  common  language  which  scholars 
both  spoke  and  wrote ;  and  the  Greek  philosophy 
had  filled  the  then  known  world.  Its  influence  in 
biblical  literature  is  nowhere  more  evident  than  in 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  where  the  doctrine  of  the 
Logos  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  Philo  of 
Alexandria ;  while  the  mighty  epistles  of  St.  Paul 
show  a  very  intimate  knowledge  of  the  prevailing 
philosophy.  Plato  and  Aristotle  ruled  the  world 
of  thought  for  a  thousand  years,  and  their  ideas 
were  incorporated  in  the  Christian  doctrines  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  were  of  almost  equal  au- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  95 

thority  with  the  Gospels  themselves,  down  to  the 
end  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Plato's  doctrine  of  the  warfare  of  matter  against 
mind,   therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  the  philo- 
sophic source  of  the  notion  that  sin  and  error  are 
immanent  in  the  flesh.      St.  Paul  puts  it  in  almost 
as  many  words  when  he  writes :  "  For  the  flesh  lust- 
eth    against    the    Spirit,    and    the    Spirit    against 
the  flesh:  and  these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the 
other."  ^^      And  again :   "  He   that  soweth  to   the 
flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption ;  but  he  that 
soweth  to  the  Spirit  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life 
everlasting."  -^      It  is  true  that  St.  Paul  idealizes 
this  doctrine,  and  uses  it  in  a  free  and  rhetorical 
way,  but  nevertheless  he  appears  to  have  accepted 
the   doctrine   as   basal   in   his   theology.     Making 
the  "  Spirit  "  of  St.  Paul  equivalent  to  the  "  Idea  " 
of  Plato,  the  parallel  is  identical.      The  figurative 
use  which  also  seems  to  be  in  the  thought  of  St. 
Paul  is  to  the  eff*ect  that  man,  who  is  of  the  flesh, 
is  at  enmity  with  God,  who  is  Spirit.     The  reason 
that  man  goes  the  way  of  sin  is  that  he  is  of  the 
earth    earthy.     The   flesh,   therefore,    is    the    real 
ground  of  evil.     Hence  all  that  are  born  of  the 
flesh  are  engulfed  in  its   evil.     Accordingly,   the 
Messiah,  who  was  to  be  the  holy  one  of  Israel,  must 
have  been  immaculately  conceived  and  bom  of  a 
virgin,  in  order  to  have  escaped  the  corruption 
which  is  total  in  man.     He  was  indeed  born  of  the 

19  Gal.  5:17. 

20  Gal.  6:8. 


96  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

flesh,  but  having  been  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
he  transcended  the  power  of  the  flesh,  and  so  was 
without  sin. 

But  the  fallacy  of  this  entire  doctrine  is  seen 
at  once  when  we  consider  that  it  assumes  a  duality 
of  first  principles,  which  is  self-destructive  in  all 
metaphysics.  We  have  seen  that  there  can  not 
be  two  basal  and  co-eternal  realities,  and  we  have 
found  reasons  for  assuming  that  eternal  Spirit  is 
the  absolute  ground  of  the  world.  If  this  be  well 
taken,  it  follows  that  matter  and  the  flesh  can  have 
no  causality  in  themselves  alone,  and  the  whole 
doctrine  of  the  sinfulness  of  the  flesh  turns  out  to 
be  nothing  but  a  fiction  of  the  imagination.  All 
sin  and  evil  are  products  of  the  living  spirit ;  sin, 
from  its  very  nature,  can  not  inhere  in  the  uncon- 
scious flesh,  but  pertains  alone  to  the  perverse  will. 
Sin  is  only  the  wilfully  wrong. 

We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  if  Christ  were 
born  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  he  would  have  been  as 
sinless  in  his  birth  as  if  he  were  conceived  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  and  if  each  individual  soul  is  a  crea- 
tion of  God,  it  follows  that  Christ  would  not  have 
been  any  the  less  divine  if  born  as  are  all  men. 
We  would  not  presume  to  say  what  may  have  been 
the  manner  of  Christ's  birth,  but  we  do  maintain 
that  the  virginal  birth  can  be  neither  historically 
nor  rationally  established.  And  the  notion  that 
sin  must  inhere  in  Christ,  if  born  of  human  par- 
ents, is  a  reproach  to  intelligence.  Such  manner 
of  birth  is  the  evident  world-wide  provision   for 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  97 

the  generation  of  all  finite  life  by  Him  who  doeth 
all  things  well,  and  to  suppose  that  there  is  any 
essential  evil  in  connection  therewith  is  but  the 
folly  of  a  distorted  mind. 

But  whatever  opinion  may  be  held  as  to  the  pre- 
existence,  divinity,  and  miraculous  birth  of  Christ, 
none  can  gainsay  his  supreme  spiritual  meaning 
in  history.  If  God  be  an  Infinite  Personal  Intelli- 
gence, it  is  but  reasonable  to  think  that  He  would 
not  leave  us  without  definite  revelation  of  Himself ; 
and  granting  that  such  a  revelation  is  desirable, 
in  view  of  man's  universal  ignorance,  there  is  no 
conceivable  way  in  which  it  could  be  made  ex- 
cept in  the  form  of  human  life  and  experience. 
For  if  God  will  speak  literally  to  men.  He  must  do 
so  in  human  words  and  with  human  lips,  otherwise 
He  could  not  be  understood  at  all.  In  this  rela- 
tion Christ  is  uniquely  the  Son  of  God,  the  Word 
of  the  Father.  The  supremest  significance  of 
Christ  is  that  of  Revelator.  His  mission  was  to 
reveal  God's  heart  and  mind  to  us,  and  our  rela- 
tion to  Him.  Philip's  appeal :  "  Lord,  show  us 
the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us,"  ^^  was  the  specific 
purpose  of  Christ  in  the  world.  This  finds  ex- 
pression in  the  incomparable  epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, as  it  is  written :  "  God,  who  at  sundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  time  past 
unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last 
days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son."  ^^     And  Christ's 

21  St.  John  14:8. 

22  Heb.  1:1,  2. 


98  CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION 

words  are  regarded  by  millions  as  the  veritable 
words  of  life ;  his  moral  conceptions  have  trans- 
formed the  nations ;  he  has  become  literally  the 
light  of  the  world,  and  his  name  is  above  every 
name. 

If  our  reasoning  be  of  any  value  in  relation  to 
such  problems  as  we  have  had  under  consideration, 
the  primal  significance  of  the  spirit,  as  the  key 
of  the  world's  interpretation,  is  evident.  In  the 
great  life  of  mankind,  spiritual  power  has  always 
been  the  supreme  means  of  leadership,  and  the 
glory  of  the  race  has  been  in  its  intellectual 
achievements  and  spiritual  mastery.  In  the  world, 
likewise,  we  have  found  that  there  is  one  round  of 
harmony.  The  world,  in  other  words,  is  a  system 
into  which  all  parts  are  fitted  with  respect  to  all 
others.  But  since  such  interaction  is  conceivable 
only  as  there  is  an  underlying  unitary  ground, 
which  determines  all  possible  relations  of  the  inter- 
acting parts,  it  follows  that  the  absolute  Spirit, 
which  alone  possesses  such  unity,  is  the  ground  and 
source  of  all  finite  existence.  Man  is  intelligent, 
the  world  is  intelligible,  and  God  is  Intelligence. 
God  is  a  Spirit,  and  all  existence  is  the  expression 
of  His  intelligent  purpose.  "  Mind  is  supreme, 
and  the  universe  is  but  the  reflected  thought  of 
God."  23 

23  Immanuel  Kant. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  SECRET  OF  SOLITUDE 


"  The  strife  none  can  share:  though  by  all  its  results 
may  be  known: 
When  the  soul  arms  for  battle  she  goes  forth  alone." 
Owen  Meredith,  "Poems/'  Vol.  II  ("Lucile"). 

"  Into  the  wilderness.** 

St.  Matthew  4:  1. 

"  One  impulse   from  a  vernal  wood 
May  teach  us  more  of  man, 
Of  moral  evil  and  of  good, 
Than  all  the  sages  can." 

Wordsworth,  "  Poems." 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  SECRET  OF  SOLITUDE 

The  "  wilderness  "  was  not  necessarily  a  desert, 
barren  and  fruitless,  as  is  sometimes  supposed, 
but  is  to  be  thought  of  merely  as  a  place  of  the 
wild, —  that  is,  an  uninhabited  or  unfrequented 
place.  As  such  it  might  well  have  been  the  vernal 
forest,  the  fruitful  plain,  or  the  sublime  mountains. 
The  picture  is  of  a  place  where  the  natural  food 
supply  w^as  lacking,  and  this  may  be  the  case  as  a 
general  condition  in  all  uncultivated  regions. 

We  must  remember  in  this  connection  that  the 
wilderness,  in  the  minds  of  the  ancients,  was  re- 
garded as  a  place  of  peculiar  sanctity.  Like  the 
mountains,  it  was  regarded  as  the  "  secret  place," 
the  place  of  prayer  and  heart-searching,  of  wor- 
ship and  communion, —  in  short,  the  place  where 
God  was  specially  to  be  found.  And  it  is  true 
without  doubt  that  in  such  environment  our  minds 
are  most  reverential  and  truly  worshipful.  In 
these  circumstances  we  are  overpowered  with  a 
sense  of  awe  and  utter  dependence  upon  the  Om- 
nipotent, and  the  deepest  spiritual  graces  are  ob- 
tained and  conserved. 

This  meaning  of  the  solitude  finds  classic  formu- 

101 


102  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

lation  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  "  He  that 
dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  most  High  shall 
abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty."  That 
is,  he  that  dwells  in  the  place  of  prayer  and  holi- 
ness of  life  approaches  near  to  God  and  is  the 
special  object  of  His  love  and  care.  This  great 
truth,  in  an  ultra  and  perverted  form,  has  found 
expression  in  all  ages  in  the  extremes  of  asceticism 
in  its  various  moods.  Such  method  of  living  has 
ever  been  supposed  to  possess  a  special  sanctity. 
It  was  in  such  a  wilderness  that  John  the  Baptist 
spent  the  formative  period  of  his  life.  There  he 
was  dependent  for  his  sustenance  upon  such  nat- 
ural production  of  locusts  and  wild  honey  as  he 
might  chance  to  find.  As  an  outgrowth  of  this 
stern  and  ascetic  life  we  see  him  possessed  of  that 
austere  and  rugged  type  of  morality  which  stood 
in  such  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  effeminate 
and  sensual  degenerates  to  whom  he  preached. 
The  wilderness  was  the  schooling  place  of  the 
prophets. 

The  history  of  the  Israelites  gives  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  principle  here  involved.  In  their 
nomadic  life,  and  particularly  in  their  wanderings 
in  the  wilderness,  they  were  much  as  all  unsettled 
and  primitive  peoples  in  their  dependence  upon  the 
chance  provisions  of  nature  for  food  and  suste- 
nance. As  a  result  they  were  very  much  subject 
to  vicissitudinous  fortunes,  often  wanting  for  the 
bare  necessities  of  life  and  being  overwhelmed  by 
the    destroying    elements.     Hence    they    came    to 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  103 

realize,  as  only  a  people  situated  as  they  were 
could  do,  their  utter  dependence  upon  the  fortui- 
tous products  of  the  world  or,  as  they  conceived 
it,  the  direct  interposition  of  God.  It  was  Je- 
hovah, as  the}'^  believed,  who  sent  the  quail,  and 
gave  the  manna,  and  opened  up  the  holy  spring 
at  Kadesh-Barnea ;  it  was  this  same  Jehovah  who 
revealed  to  Moses  the  Ten  Commandments  from 
the  thunderings  of  Sinai,  and  it  was  He  who  pros- 
pered Israel  in  all  her  struggle  with  her  enemies, 
or  afflicted  her  with  defeat  and  captivity  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  her  sins.  He,  indeed,  was  present  and 
operative  in  everything,  and  it  was  His  powerful 
hand  that  molded  all  the  events  of  their  destiny. 
The  piety  and  fervent  devotion  of  this  people 
rested  back  upon  this  primal  dependence  upon  God 
for  all  things.  And  it  is  certain,  in  a  profound 
sense,  that  they  were  not  mistaken  in  their  view ; 
for  who  but  God  could  have  given  them  their  daily 
bread,  as  is  likewise  true  in  all  our  lives.  So  ab- 
solute and  fundamental  is  this  fact  of  our  com- 
plete dependence  upon  God,  it  is  highly  important 
for  a  right  spirit  of  life  that  we  have  a  constant 
recognition  of  it.  Hence,  for  the  sleek  and  well- 
fed  a  season  of  enforced  hunger  or  of  prolonged 
sickness  may  result  in  their  religious  improvement 
and  sanity,  more  than  months  of  philosophic  argu- 
ments or  theological  instruction.  It  is  a  poor 
comment  upon  humanity  that  this  is  so,  but  never- 
theless it  must  be  admitted.  There  are  those  who 
have  to  be  veritably  scared  into  the  kingdom ;  but 


104  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

how  much  more  sane  and  less  cowardly  for 
men  to  thoughtfully  and  lovingly  yield  themselves 
to  the  Father's  will. 

But  in  civilized  life,  which  offers  the  possibility 
of  such  unbounded  luxuries,  wherein  we  become 
surfeited  in  almost  everything,  we  are  often  so  far 
removed  from  the  source  of  all  production  as  to 
forget  our  dependence  upon  God.  We  go  to  the 
market  for  what  we  want  instead  of  to  the  fields, 
and  abuse  the  marketman  if  we  can  not  get  it, 
forgetful  of  the  fact  that  he  at  least  has  to  depend 
upon  the  God-given  increase.  Thus  we  are  fool- 
ish and  ill-bred.  This  remove  from  all  sources 
not  only  makes  men  forget  their  dependence  upon 
God,  but,  because  of  greater  possibility,  affords 
intensified  liability  to  the  temptation  of  dissipa- 
tion. It  is  in  this  connection  that  we  find  one 
meaning  to  Christ's  words :  "  How  hardly  shall 
they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God."  ^  While  men  are  in  possession  of  full  lard- 
ers and  storehouses  well  laden,  and  are  able  to 
wrap  the  cloak  of  security  about  them  free  from 
danger,  they  are,  as  Compte  suggested,  ready  to 
dispense  with  God  altogether,  with  thanks  for  His 
provisional  service.  But  so  soon  as  starvation 
threatens  them  or  imminent  dangers  beset  them, 
then  like  cravens  they  begin  to  beg  God  for  mercy 
and  deliverance.  In  the  island  of  Martinique  was 
to  be  found  many  arrogant  atheists,  but  when 
Mt.  Pelee  burst  forth  and  scattered  destruction 
iSt,  Mark  10:23. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  105 

everywhere  these  same  infidels  were  found  kneeling 
at  every  shrine  by  the  wayside  in  paroxysms  of 
prayer  to  the  very  God  whom  they  had  blasphemed 
and  denied. 

The  notion  that  God  dwelt  in  the  solitary  places 
finds  peculiarly  sublime  expression  in  the  ancient 
conception  of  the  "  mount  of  the  Lord  "  as  the  se- 
cret place  of  the  most  High.  It  was  in  the  moun- 
tain that  God  was  supposed  to  dwell.  Hence  we 
find  Abraham  going  into  the  land  of  Moriah  (reve- 
lation of  Jehovah)  and  there  on  the  sacred  moun- 
tain purposing  to  sacrifice  his  only  son  Isaac  to 
God ;  and  it  was  at  the  supreme  moment  of  that 
remarkable  drama,  in  the  very  hour  of  his  deliver- 
ance, that  Abraham  exclaimed  in  the  triumph  of 
his  faith :  "  Jehovah- Jireh,  In  the  mount  of  the 
Lord  it  shall  be  seen."  ^  That  is  to  say,  salvation 
and  all  the  desires  and  longings  of  our  hearts 
God  will  reveal  and  secure  for  us  in  the  secret  place 
of  His  holy  mountain.  There  in  the  heights 
was  God's  dwelling  place,  there  His  most  holy 
altar,  there  His  clearest  revelation.  The  isola- 
tion and  solitude  of  the  mountain  were  to  the  an- 
cient man  what  the  "  closet  "  is  to  the  modern 
man,  into  which  Christ  said  we  should  go,  and  pray 
unto  the  Father  in  secret,  and  that  He  who  hear- 
eth  in  secret  would  reward  us  openly.  God  seems 
nearest  to  us  in  the  solitude. 

Historically,  the  notion  that  God  dwelt  in  the 
mountain  has  been  all  but  universal.     Thus  Moses 

2  Gen.  22:14. 


106  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

received  the  tables  of  the  law  on  the  mountain  of 
Sinai,  where  in  ecstatic  rapture  he  felt  that  he 
spake  face  to  face  with  Jehovah.  And  it  was  on 
the  mountain  that  we  find  Christ  going  apart  to 
pray,  and  where  his  soul  found  its  supreme  beati- 
tude and  spiritual  glorification  in  the  hour  of  his 
transfiguration  before  Peter  and  John.  Here  they 
were  all  caught  up  into  transports  of  rapture  and 
beheld  visions  of  prophets  and  saints.  The  gen- 
eral notion  that  God  dwelt  especially  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  mountains  prevailed  among  all  peoples. 
Zeus  dwelt  in  Mt.  Olympus,  and  the  Muses  in  Par- 
nassus, just  as  Jehovah  dwelt  in  Moriah,  Sinai, 
and  Mt.  Zion.  Even  in  the  level  plains  of  Baby- 
lon, where  there  were  no  mountains,  the  people 
built  their  temples  as  high  towers,  on  which  God 
was  thought  to  dwell.  The  famous  Tower  of  Ba- 
bel was  none  other  than  such  "  gate  of  God."  ^ 
And  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
church  spire  and  tower  carry  over  into  themselves, 
in  a  modified  form,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
the  same  idea.  At  least  the  assumption  is  that 
they  point  men  to  the  habitation  of  God. 

The  ground  of  this  universal  assumption  that 
deity  dwells  in  the  high  places  is  found  in  the 
sense  of  solitude,  sublimity  and  majesty,  vastness 
and  power,  with  which  we  are  impressed  when 
among  the  mountains.  As  the  summits  of  the 
mountains  lift  themselves  into  the  clear  air  and 
bright   sunlight,   and   as   the  horizon   is   enlarged 

3  Babel  =  "  Gate  of  God."     (Babylonian.) 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  107 

almost  without  limit,  the  very  rocks  unsullied  by 
the  foot  of  man  or  beast,  their  lofty  peaks  defy- 
ing all  approach  except,  as  it  seemed,  to  God  Him- 
self,—  lonely,  somber,  terrifying, —  all  impressed 
the  ancient,  inexperienced  imagination  that  here 
indeed  must  be  God's  dwelling  place.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  by  the  laws  of  thought  these  anthro- 
pomorphisms are  but  what  it  is  natural  to  expect. 
Furthermore,  when  we  remember  that  it  is  prob- 
able many  more  volcanoes  were  active  in  the  an- 
cient time  than  now,  the  more  must  have  been  the 
impression  that  the  mighty  fires  which  destroyed 
cities  and  inundated  the  world,  the  floods  and  light- 
nings from  Olympus,  Sinai,  and  every  local  vol- 
cano, the  more  must  it  have  appeared  that  it  was 
here  that  God  wrought  and  hurled  His  thunder- 
bolts. The  lofty,  unapproachable  peaks  were  sur- 
rounded with  a  mystery  which  led  to  superstitious 
awe,  and  permitted  the  imagination  to  run  riot. 
No  one  who  for  the  first  time  ascends  a  lofty  peak 
of  the  mountains  but  experiences  some  of  the  na- 
tive impulses  and  emotions  which  must  have  filled 
the  breast  of  ancient  man.  It  is  an  experience 
never  to  be  forgotten.  How  glorious !  How  sub- 
lime !  Our  souls  are  quickened  until  it  does  al- 
most seem  that  God  is  nearer  than  in  any  other 
place. 

The  notion  that  God  was  to  be  found  in  a  spe- 
cial manner,  and  particularly  worshiped  in  the 
mountain,  prevailed  even  in  the  time  of  Christ. 
Thus  the  Samaritans  went  into  the  holy  mountain. 


108  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

and  the  Jews  went  up  to  Mt.  Zion  at  Jerusalem, 
to  worship  God.  In  this  manner  was  He  localized, 
and  thus  was  Christ,  when  at  Jacob's  well,  led  to 
reveal  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  that  the  hour  had 
come  even  then  when  they  that  would  worship  the 
Father  need  not  go  up  into  the  holy  mountain, 
nor  up  to  Jerusalem,  but  that  they  should  worship 
Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."*  He  would  have  us 
know  that  God  dwells  not  in  this  or  that  place,  but 
that  He  is  immanent  in  all  things  and  is  every- 
where, and  especially  may  be  found  nearest  of  all 
in  the  awaiting,  contrite  heart.  By  this  con- 
ception all  local  ethnic  and  tribal  notions  of  God 
were  swept  away,  and  worship  and  religion  lifted 
up  into  the  realm  of  the  universally  valid.  Here 
is  a  conception  worthy  of  the  great  God.  The 
whole  world  is  embraced  by  it,  and  the  mind  finds 
satisfaction.  In  this  supreme  moment  did  Christ 
indeed  reveal  the  Father.  This,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time  in  history,  clearly  set  forth  the  unity 
and  omnipresence  of  God.  Others  approached 
near  to  the  conception,  but  it  remained  for  Christ 
to  grasp  it  in  its  fullness  and  make  it  as  potent 
as  the  light.  The  thought  is  wonderful, —  it  is 
sublime.  It  lifts  us  up  into  the  mount  of  spiritual 
transfiguration  where  we  are  able  to  view  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  and  above  all  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  glory  of  God.      It  is  profound. 

Now  Christ  went  apart  into  the  wilderness  for 
the  specific  purpose  of  trying  and  proving  himself, 

4  St.  John  4:23. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  109 

for  self-examination,  for  communion  with  God,  and 
for  reflection  on  his  destiny.  It  is  in  such  an  envi- 
ronment that  the  heart  is  led  most  sincerely  to  God. 
For  this  reason,  the  rustic  is  more  religious  than 
the  denizen  of  the  streets.  He  is  more  dependent 
on  the  direct  providences  of  God,  or  rather  he  is 
in  a  position  to  recognize  the  fact  of  our  universal 
dependence  more  than  any  others ;  and  accord- 
ingly he  is  more  sure  to  make  a  proper  recognition 
of  the  fact  by  a  deeper  and  more  simple  faith, 
by  a  more  serious  religious  disposition.  He  be- 
holds this  goodly  providence  in  the  sunshine  and 
the  rain,  in  the  wind  and  sea,  in  the  spring  that 
bursts  from  the  rock  and  the  quail  that  wings  to 
the  desert;  the  seed-time  and  the  harvest,  all  are 
from  God,  and  he  immediately  recognizes  this  as 
so.  Man  thus  is  dependent  moment  by  moment; 
he  is  hungry,  and  mere  chance  may  give  him  bread 
and  drink ;  it  is  of  God,  and  his  mind,  like  Israel's, 
is  solemnized  and  made  worshipful.  It  is  by 
God's  hand  that  we  are  fed.  Hunger  and  thirst, 
cold  and  heat,  distress  and  suff^ering,  make  men 
religious.  God  is  in  the  sunshine  and  the  calm  as 
well  as  in  the  storm  and  flood.  He  is  thus  re- 
vealed in  universal  experience. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  solitude  or  reasona- 
ble privacy  is  the  most  congenial  environment  for 
developing  both  intellectual  and  religious  life.  The 
secret  place,  or  place  of  prayer,  becomes  the 
place  of  self-revelation,  which  is  always  the  indi- 
vidual's   deepest   need.     In   such  holy   place   and 


110  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

in  such  circumstances  man  ceases  to  be  artificial, 
merely  playing  a  part  as  an  actor  upon  the  stage ; 
but  here  in  secret,  with  no  eyes  to  behold  except 
the  eyes  of  Him  who  sees  all  things,  the  mind  is 
solemnized  and  man  becomes  genuinely  himself, 
sincerely  honest  and  reverential,  and  comes  to  true 
worship.  Accordingly,  Christ  went  apart  into  the 
untrammeled  life  of  the  wilderness  for  a  time 
where  he  would  not  be  distracted  by  the  intrusions 
of  others,  and  where  he  would  be  able  to  live  and 
think  in  freedom  from  conventional  restraint. 

And  this  is  admittedly  a  circumstance  univer- 
sally congenial  to  the  discovery  of  tinith  and  the 
development  of  righteous  thought  and  life.  When 
Christ  commanded  us  to  go  apart  into  secret 
to  pray  he  but  summoned  us  to  do  what  the  an- 
cients did  when  they  went  apart  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  worship,  and  as  he  himself  did  when  he  went 
up  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted.  The  truest 
revelation  both  of  ourselves  and  of  God  is  obtained 
in  this  isolated  and  reverential  circumstance.  It 
is  in  the  closet,  in  the  earnestness  of  prayer,  in  the 
secret  place  of  our  hearts  and  consciences,  that 
God  is  peculiarly  revealed  unto  us.  If  men  will 
find  God  they  must  seek  after  Him ;  we  can  come 
into  possession  of  the  desires  of  our  hearts  only 
by  endeavor.  If  we  will  reap  it  is  necessary  that 
we  sow.  It  is  to  him  that  knocketh  that  it  shall 
be  opened.  As  we  come  into  knowledge  of  all 
things  only  by  familiarizing  ourselves  with  them 
and  by  thinking  much  upon  the  subject  in  hand. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  111 

so  likewise  we  can  grow  in  grace  and  knowledge 
of  God  only  by  dwelling  much  in  the  holy  place, 
and  by  meditating  on  His  law  day  and  night.  The 
secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  love  Him. 

We  learn  that  Christ  often  turned  apart  from 
the  thronging  multitudes  to  find  rest  and  peace  in 
solitude.  The  love  of  nature  and  the  simple  life 
is  instinctive,  and  appeals  irresistibly  to  all  minds 
of  whatever  station  in  life.  Nature,  as  nothing 
else,  sheds  a  soothing  influence  over  mind  and 
heart.  The  streams  of  humanity  to  the  country 
and  seaside  for  rest  and  cure  for  all  their  ills  is  a 
living  prayer  to  the  God  of  nature,  and  an  ex- 
pression of  simple  faith.  It  may  well  be  that 
rural  isolation  and  the  life  of  smaller  communities 
are  narrowing  in  their  influence,  but  they  are, 
nevertheless,  deepening  also.  Fewer  objects  of 
thought  may  occupy  the  mind,  but  reflection  upon 
these  is  more  thorough  and  complete,  and  this  is 
conducive  to  mastery  of  whatever  the  mind  ad- 
dresses itself  to,  and  results  in  fruitful  habits 
of  thought.  Strong  convictions  are  accordingly 
formed  and  the  most  pronounced  types  of  mind  are 
developed.  Complete  isolation,  long  continued,  is 
not  good,  but  by  withdrawing  from  the  distrac- 
tions of  the  city  and  the  confusions  of  society  we 
are  able  to  gain  a  truer  perspective  of  even  the 
ordinary  issues  of  the  day,  and  particularly  of 
the  great  problems  of  life.  The  psychology  of 
the  crowd  reveals  a  contagion  of  insane  action  and 
lack  of  rational  consideration,  whereas  the  seren- 


112  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ity  of  the  solitude  enables  us  again  to  set  things 
in  their  right  proportion.  We  have  a  chance  to 
impartially  think  it  over. 

There  seems,  therefore,  to  be  something  essen- 
tial to  life  in  a  reasonably  close  contact  with  na- 
ture. It  has  always  been  recognized  that  life  in 
the  country  is  not  only  the  best  school  for  the 
primal  development  of  body  and  mind,  but  for 
strength  of  character  as  well.  Here  men  come 
into  immediate  and  rugged  contact  with  the  forces 
of  life  and  the  world  which  are  so  vital  to  sound 
and  healthful  living,  and  which  as  a  result  yield 
them  the  best  furnishing  for  successful  endeavor. 
The  world  indeed  is  an  experimental  laboratory  in 
fundamental  education  where  the  unfolding  mind 
of  man  becomes  familiarized  with  all  the  elemental 
foi-ms  and  laws  of  nature,  and  practically  tests  its 
own  capacities  and  limitations.  By  such  struggle 
men  are  made  strong.  Accordingly  it  passes  cur- 
rent for  the  larger  part  that  the  most  successful 
men  have  been  born  and  bred  in  the  country.  It 
has  been  ascertained  that  the  leading  clergymen 
of  our  great  cities  are  mostly  men,  like  David,  who 
went  up  to  their  high  priesthood  from  the  simple 
rural  life.  The  same  is  true  of  the  great  bank- 
ers and  metropolitan  masters  of  trade,  as  well  as 
of  the  illustrious  statesmen,  scientists  and  men  of 
literature  in  our  history.  Mr.  Irving  Bacheller, 
in  summarizing  this  fact  in  his  "  Eben  Holden," 
declares  that  when  men  from  the  country  cease  to 
go  up  to  the  city  grass  will  grow  on  Broadway. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  113 

It  is  probable  that  Christ  sought  the  wilderness 
not  so  much  for  solitude  as  for  opportunity  of  un- 
disturbed reflection.  Seclusion  from  intrusion  is 
the  indispensable  condition  for  mental  productive- 
ness. He  was  deliberating  the  program  of  his 
marvelous  career,  and  he  sought  the  most  con- 
genial environment.  The  call  of  the  wild  came  to 
him,  not  for  the  purpose  of  dissipation,  but  as  the 
fit  setting  for  profound  action.  Thought  requires 
concentration,  and  this  is  impossible  in  the  midst 
of  jarring  distractions.  The  scholar  must  have 
privacy  as  the  necessary  condition  of  disciplining 
his  mind  in  the  power  of  attainment.  His  highest 
aspirations  can  be  reached  in  no  other  way.  The 
"  Principia  "  of  Newton  was  not  formulated  on 
the  king's  highway,  but  in  the  seclusion  of  the  ob- 
servatory ;  and  the  "  Copemican  Theory  "  was  not 
produced  in  a  guest  chamber,  but  in  the  isolation 
of  the  cloister.  The  master  mind  comes  now  and 
again  to  decisions  which  it  alone  can  make,  and 
that  without  the  help  of  others.  Each  of  us  ex- 
periences occasionally  unspeakable  loneliness,  and 
realizes  in  the  emergency  that  we  are  the  sole  arbi- 
ters of  our  destiny.  In  such  case  none,  not  even 
our  nearest  friends,  can  help  us,  and  we  must  wres- 
tle alone,  if  need  be,  like  Jacob  until  the  break  of 
day. 

It  is  likewise  probable  that  Christ  sought  the 
wilderness  for  peace  and  quietude  of  spirit.  The 
tired  man  of  the  city  goes  into  the  country,  into 
the  open  sunshine  of  the  fields  and  the  shady  bower 


114  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

of  the  woods,  with  the  assurance  of  finding  rest  as 
a  balm  for  wearied  body  and  mind,  and  he  is  not 
disappointed.  The  stately  trees  spread  their 
branches  in  peaceful  benediction,  the  tangled 
shrubs  waft  their  fragrant,  spicy  incense,  the  wild 
flowers  among  the  green  mosses  stand  as  love 
tokens  at  God's  altars,  while  the  twittering  birds 
sing  eternal  litanies.  It  is  here  that  man  truly 
worships,  and  begins  to  smile,  not  knowing  why, 
yet  bettered  for  his  smiling.  Then  he  begins  to 
talk,  and  unburdens  his  weary  brain.  He  glimpses 
now  and  again  at  the  stray  denizens  of  the  forest 
and  wonders  at  their  homes  and  families,  at  their 
troubles  and  their  joys.  Suddenly  he  bursts  into 
a  merry  laugh  at  some  of  their  ridiculous  antics. 
He  laughs,  yet  a  day  before  in  the  city  the  clever- 
est comedian  on  the  stage  could  not  have  wrung 
from  him  a  smile.  What  is  it  that  has  wrought 
this  great  change.''  The  woods,  the  smiling,  heal- 
ing woods. 

The  beauty  of  the  hills  and  the  sky,  of  the 
blooming  fields  and  the  rippling  streams,  beckons 
the  troubled  spirit  and  gives  it  of  their  own  peace. 
Here  the  soul  is  stirred  by  the  profound  emotions, 
the  vague  questionings,  the  glimmerings  of  abound- 
ing, refreshing,  perennial  life.  And  here,  likewise, 
answer  is  found  for  its  deepest  needs. 

Thus  in  the  country  is  where  men  are  most  free. 
A  larger  return  to  such  life  would  be  the  cure  for 
many  of  our  social  ills.  There  is  always  a  good 
living  for  every  man  in  God's  out-of-doors.     Also 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  115 

it  is  evident  that  the  rural  communities  afford  a 
purer  social  atmosphere  as  a  moral  environment. 
Here  each  naturally  seeks  the  good-will  of  all,  and 
there  is  the  potent  refining  influence  that  comes 
from  disapproval  of  any  dubious  action,  and  the 
general  restraining  force  of  public  opinion.  This 
is  evidently  the  best  condition  for  the  development 
of  highest  character.  When  the  fountain  is  pure 
the  stream  will  be  pure ;  and  it  is  from  such  com- 
munities that  we  have  to  look  for  the  appearance 
of  prophets  and  leaders  of  men.  Redemption  is 
not  the  greatest  work  among  men,  for  it  is  still 
greater  to  preserve  men  from  the  need  of  redemp- 
tion. It  is  better  to  prevent  men  from  entering 
the  by  and  forbidden  path  than  it  is  to  drag  them 
from  the  gutters  after  they  are  once  there.  If 
half  the  saving  agencies  were  used  by  men  in  pre- 
venting apostasy  and  prodigality  that  are  done 
in  redeeming  the  outcast  and  the  fallen,  there 
would  result  vastly  more  value  to  the  kingdom  of 
God  among  men.  Here,  as  everywhere,  the  "  ounce 
of  prevention  is  worth  the  pound  of  cure." 

In  a  profound  sense  each  man  lives  his  life  in 
solitude.  The  walls  of  personality  shut  us  in,  each 
within  the  chamber  of  his  own  being  and  his  own 
destiny.  The  best  of  men,  accordingly,  have 
found  it  good  and  necessary  to  be  much  alone 
with  themselves.  It  was  Sir  Walter  Scott,  one  of 
the  most  genial  and  social  hearted  of  men,  who 
said :  "  If  the  question  was  eternal  company, 
without  the  power  of  retiring  within  yourself,  or 


116  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

solitary  confinement  for  life,  I  should  say,  '  Turn- 
key, lock  the  cell.'  "  Only  the  weak  mind  has  to 
find  its  satisfactions  from  without.  The  strong 
man  is  self-contained.  He  is  sublimely  independ- 
ent ;  the  good  man  is  at  home  with  himself,  and  his 
deepest  life  is  within,  not  without.  Thus  the  lone- 
liness of  personality  is  never  to  be  forgotten. 
Accordingly  it  is  in  the  solitary  places  of  the  hu- 
man heart  that  we  are  to  find  the  real  fellowship 
of  the  Universal  Spirit,  the  meeting-place  of  man 
with  God. 

But  solitude  has  a  more  profound  secret. 
There  was,  in  the  life  of  Christ,  not  only  the  iso- 
lation of  the  wilderness,  but  a  solitude  of  spirit, 
which  led  him  apart  and  set  him  above  all  others. 
This  finds  illustration  in  the  many  aspects  of  his 
career.  His  thought  was  so  far  above  that  of 
the  groundlings  of  his  day  that  they  could  not  un- 
derstand him.  They  said :  "  He  is  beside  him- 
self." ^  Even  his  most  intimate  disciples  were  so 
far  from  comprehending  him  that  he  was,  from 
time  to  time,  moved  to  say  to  them  all  as  to  the 
one :  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and 
yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip.^  "  ^  Men  did 
not  comprehend  him  then  any  more  than  they  do 
now.  But  he  did  not  let  his  life  in  any  way  de- 
pend upon  them ;  and  with  sublime  indifference  to 
their  judgments,  he  simply  lived  the  truth.  The 
vision  of  the  prophet  was  embodied  in  him.     As 

est.  Mark  3:21. 
est.  John  14:9. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  117 

the  heavens  were  higher  than  the  earth,  so  were  his 
ways  higher  than  their  ways,  and  his  thoughts 
higher  than  their  thoughts.  He  went  apart  into 
the  wilderness  and  the  mountain  to  pray  and  com- 
mune with  the  Father,  with  the  consciousness  that 
there  he  would  be  fully  understood.  There,  at 
least,  his  thoughts  might  jfind  untrammeled  free- 
dom. 

Again,  how  utterly  alone  was  he  when  in  Geth- 
semane,  notwithstanding  that  there  were  with  him 
his  own  chosen  disciples,  who  were  nearest  and 
dearest  to  him  and  who  entered  into  sympathy 
with  him  as  none  others.  Even  they  could  not 
enter  into  his  passion.  "  Sit  ye  here,  while  I  go 
yonder  and  pray."  ^  Taking  Peter,  James,  and 
John,  he  went  apart;  and  asking  them  to  abide 
and  watch,  he  himself  went  still  forward  a  little, 
and  fell  upon  his  face,  and  prayed  —  alone. 
None  was  able  to  wake  the  hours  with  him ;  none 
was  able  to  enter  into  his  unspeakable  agony. 
There,  in  the  deepest  anguish  of  his  soul,  he  must 
tread  the  wine-press  alone.  Also  what  a  sublime, 
albeit  pathetic,  spectacle  is  the  lowly  Christ  as  we 
see  him  in  the  tragic  crisis  of  his  life,  in  Pilate's 
judgment  hall,  upon  Calvary's  cross,  buffeted,  dy- 
ing, in  the  midst  of  a  ribald  throng,  alone  in  the 
solitude  of  his  sufferings.  Against  the  living 
Truth  men  hurled  stones ;  for  compassion  and  pity 
they  returned  mockery;  for  tears  they  gave  jeers. 
What  a  nameless  spectacle  was  this  !    They  stoned 

7  St.  Matt.  26:36. 


118  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

the  prophets,  but  here  was  even  a  greater  shame. 
Behold  a  world  crucify  its  Lord  and  Savior! 
Christ  was  in  the  world,  but  not  of  the  world.  In 
the  midst  of  its  darkness  he  stood  like  the  solitary 
sun. 

But  solitude  of  soul  is  a  deep  fact  of  the  life 
of  every  man.  In  all  our  heart  of  hearts  there 
is  an  impenetrable  solitude.  We  are  alone.  Our 
deepest  lives  are  hidden  from  all.  This  we  find 
true,  for  example,  in  our  life  of  thought.  As  we 
have  seen,  each  must  think  for  himself.  The 
truth  can  be  true  for  us  only  in  so  far  as  we  recog- 
nize it  as  true ;  none  can  do  this  for  us ;  the  task 
is  ours  alone.  It  follows  also  that  what  appears 
to  be  true,  after  all  due  investigation,  we  must 
courageously  hold  and  maintain,  even  though  all 
the  world  be  against  us.  Less  than  this  would  be 
both  intellectual  and  moral  dishonesty.  Christ 
stood  alone  against  the  world ;  and  we  may  be 
called  upon  to  do  the  same.  To  shrink  from  the 
consequences  of  any  truth  is  cowardice.  And  yet 
how  difficult  it  is  to  withstand  the  prejudices  of 
tradition,  or  the  fanaticisms  of  ignorance,  or  the 
follies  of  stupidity.  On  the  other  hand,  how  easy 
it  is  to  drift  with  the  current,  to  assent  with  all 
men,  to  be  politic.  To  the  worldly-wise  there  is 
a  unique  satisfaction  in  conforming  to  the  cod- 
dling infatuations  of  dominating  ignorance.  But 
the  honest  soul  is  moved  by  none  of  these  things. 

There  is  a  sense,  therefore,  in  which,  although 
no  man  liveth  unto  himself,  yet  instead  he  liveth 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  119 

unto  himself  altogether.  His  real  life  dwells  in  a 
solitude.  In  this  he  is  unknown  and  unseen  of 
men.  We  are  taught  to  bear  one  another's  bur- 
dens, yet  in  this  sense  we  must  bear  our  own  bur- 
dens alone.  We  then  must  think  for  ourselves, 
irrespective  of  the  opinions  of  others.  With  Lu- 
ther we  must  say :  "  Here  I  take  my  stand ;  I  can 
do  no  other.  Though  an  host  should  encamp 
against  us  our  hearts  must  not  fear."  Count 
Tolstoi  is  said  to  have  sent  the  laconic  reply  to 
the  metropolitan  of  St.  Petersburg,  when  he  in- 
vited him  back  into  the  fold  of  the  Church  in  his 
last  hours :  "  Even  in  the  face  of  death,  twice  two 
make  four."  Here  is  a  shibboleth  for  all  men  in 
all  time.  Even  the  sanctity  of  the  Church  can 
not  make  the  false  to  be  true,  nor  the  true  to  be 
false.  Honesty  compels  us  to  believe  only  what 
appears  to  be  rationally  true ;  and  to  do  other 
than  this  is  morally  impossible.  To  believe  a 
thing  simply  because  others  have  believed  it  and 
tradition  has  sanctioned  it,  is  not  really  to  believe 
it  at  all.  It  would  be  but  a  verbal  assent,  and 
have  in  it  no  vital  content  whatever.  Such  a  pro- 
cedure is  imbecile  and  unworthy  of  men.  To 
learn  to  think,  to  found  our  every  belief  upon  evi- 
dent grounds,  is  our  only  recourse,  the  only  way 
out.  But  in  this  we  stand  alone ;  for  the  truth 
may  be  ever  so  true,  yet  it  can  be  true  for  us,  only 
when  in  the  secrecy  of  our  own  souls  we  find  it  to 
be  so.  The  court  of  final  appeal  is  consciousness 
itself. 


120  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

It  is  also  in  this  secret  solitude  of  our  souls  that 
conscience   is   most   vividly   operative.     Here   the 
consequences    of   sin   are   most   terrible.     In   this 
condition  diversion  can  not  distract  the  mind,  but 
"  far   from   the  maddening  crowd  "   its   thoughts 
will  turn  upon  themselves.     This  is  the  judgment 
hall  in  which  the  self  is  approved  or  condemned. 
Thus  Lady  Macbeth  walks  the  vigils  of  the  night, 
washing  as  it  were  her  hands  from  the  blood  of 
Duncan,  and  yet  realizing  that  all  the  waters  of 
mighty  ocean  could  not  cleanse  that  little  hand, 
nor  all  the  perfumes  of  Araby  the  blest  sweeten 
it.     Dickens  also  has  portrayed  this  same  aveng- 
ing conscience  when  Bill  Sykes,  whether  looking 
into  the  placid  waters  of  the  lake,  or  into  the  clear 
blue   sky,  is  made  to  behold  the  face  of  Nanc3^ 
Their  sin  was  ever  before  them.     This  was  their 
hell.     But   just   as   the  guilty   conscience   suffers 
most  in  solitude,  the  conscience  that  is  void  of  of- 
fense finds  there  its  highest  joy.     It  is   for  this 
reason  that  virtue  is  its  own  reward.     It  is  in  the 
solitude  of  the  righteous  soul,  unprofaned  by  curi- 
ous eyes,  that  the  supreme  reward  of  goodness  is 
fully  valued.     This  is  the  place  of  the  soul's  real 
triumph.     It  is  not  possible  to  rejoice  sincerely 
at  the  applause  of  admiring  throngs  when  in  his  in- 
most heart  a  man  knows  that  he  is  unworthy.     To 
him  it  is  a  hollow  mockery.     But  on  the  contrary, 
if  he  have  in  him  the  sense  of  truth  and  right,  even 
their  scorn  can  not  cast  him  down.      Their  praise 
can  not  exalt  him,  nor  their  condemnation  debase 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  121 

him.  His  life  runs  true  to  the  current  of  reahty, 
and  no  external  plaudits  can  add  to  nor  take  from 
the  nobility  of  his  self.  Within  there  is  peace 
that  passeth  understanding.  External  conditions 
matter  not ;  they  can  not  reach  the  soul.  One  is 
reminded  of  the  beautiful  story  of  the  old  Berk- 
shire quarryman.  He  had  become  almost  blind 
from  the  beating  sands ;  his  wife  and  children  were 
dead  and  he  was  left  alone ;  he  was  poor  and  al- 
most without  daily  bread ;  while  at  night,  as  he 
lay  upon  his  cot,  he  could  view  the  stars  through 
the  decaying  roof  of  his  hut.  A  friend  on  meet- 
ing him  sympathizingly  said :  "  Never  mind,  my 
brother;  you'll  be  in  heaven  by  and  by."  "In 
heaven,"  he  replied ;  "  why,  I  have  been  in  heaven 
these  past  ten  years."  He  had  already  entered 
into  the  joys  that  await  us.  Neither  a  palace 
nor  a  throne  can  yield  this  beatitude.  Behold  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  within  this  good  man's  heart! 
Heaven  begun  was  heaven  won.  Heaven  was  in  a 
manger  of  Bethlehem ;  heaven  was  in  a  hovel  of  the 
Berkshire  hills. 

Furthermore,  we  are  Isolated  in  the  main  inten- 
tions of  our  lives.  We  may  be  moved  strongly 
to  a  worthy  course  of  action,  and  our  dearest 
friends  stand  in  our  way  to  prevent  us.  In  our 
noblest  aspirations  we  are  alone.  The  furnish- 
ings of  life  are  given  to  us  in  the  rough ;  our  task 
is  to  transform  the  chaos  into  rational  order. 
The  law  is :  we  must  work  out  our  own  mission  in 
our  own  way.     We  must  be  ourselves.     We  must 


122  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

not  seek  to  appear  to  be,  for  appearance  is  noth- 
ing ;  we  must  he, —  it  is  a  matter  of  the  heart.     As 
with  the  ancient  Socrates,  the  man  of  high  destiny 
must  hear,  from  within  the  deep  solitude  of  his  in- 
ner life,  a  sleepless  voice  which  urges  him  on  to 
the  goal.     A  Greek  sage  once  remarked  that  "  the 
most  are  worthless."     It  is  the  function  of  true 
life  to  so  transform  life  that  the  most,  if  not  all, 
shall    be    made    excellent.     And    perhaps    this    is 
not  so  difficult  as  might  appear.     For  although 
men  may  think  meanly  of  one  another,  yet  when 
we  view  man  as  Christ  did,  we  can  find  nothing  ig- 
noble in  him.     It  is  only  as  we  cherish  the  ideal 
of  man,  man  redeemed,  that  we  are  able  to  further 
a  sustained  endeavor  for  his  perfection.     But  it 
is  only  when  we  think  of  man  as  Christ  thought  of 
him  that  we  have  the  dynamic  to  lift  him  into  the 
full  realization  of  ideal  manhood.     And  this  in- 
spiration can  not  be  imposed  from  without,  but 
must  be  born  from  within.     It  is  the  secret  motive 
that   impels   to   all   action   and  being,   and  which 
dwells  in  the  solitude  of  every  soul.     It  is  in  this 
relation  that  we  are  able  to  see  clearly  the  apos- 
tle's   meaning    when    he    wrote    the    Philippians: 
"  Work   out   your   own    salvation   with    fear   and 
trembling."  ^     We  hear  much  about  our  responsi- 
bility for  the  salvation  of  others,  or,  in  religious 
phrase,  "  a  burden  for  souls."     It  is  well  that  all 
good  men  should  be  concerned  about  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  others ;  but  in  a  final  sense  we  can  be 
8  Phil.  2:12. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  123 

responsible  for  no  one  but  ourselves.  We  may 
stimulate  others  to  think  upon  their  need  of  salva- 
tion, but  we  can  not  save  them.  They  must  work 
out  their  own  salvation.  This  is  a  work  that 
must  be  wrought  in  the  solitude  of  their  souls, 
where  none  but  themselves  may  enter.  This  also 
is  the  reason  that  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not 
with  observation.  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  list- 
eth,  and  we  hear  the  sound  thereof,  but  can  not 
tell  whence  it  cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth ;  so  are 
they  that  are  born  of  the  spirit.  Invisible,  un- 
searchable, unknowable,  is  the  process  of  a  souPs 
regeneration.  It  is  hidden  in  the  deep  solitude 
of  a  life.  In  this  miracle  of  grace  we  are  alone, 
and  yet  not  alone,  for  God  is  with  us. 

Likewise  we  must  act  alone.  There  are  crises 
when  none  can  advise  or  direct  us.  We  come  to 
the  judgment  hall  alone.  Who  can  know  what 
is  within  your  soul,  or  who  can  measure  your 
power  of  action?  You  alone  can  know  your  ca- 
pacity, and  you  alone  can  bring  your  talents  to 
fruition.  It  is  related  that  Phillips  Brooks,  when 
a  student  at  Harvard  University,  sought  the  ad- 
vice of  the  president  concerning  his  life-work. 
The  president  is  reported  to  have  proceeded,  in  a 
purely  academic  fashion,  to  eliminate  the  vocations 
which  he  regarded  as  impracticable,  owing  to  nat- 
ural barriers.  Mr.  Brooks  having  a  stammering 
impediment  in  his  speech,  he  sympathetically  sug- 
gested that  of  course  it  would  not  do  for  him  to 
contemplate  a  profession  in  which  public  address 


124  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

was  involved,  as,  for  example,  the  ministry.  How 
futile  is  human  wisdom !  Phillips  Brooks,  one  of 
the  first  preachers  of  the  world,  taught  the  erudite 
President  of  Harvard  University,  and  all  of  us, 
once  again,  that  where  there  is  a  living  soul  on  fire 
a  stammering  Demosthenes  may  be  transformed 
into  the  mightiest  orator  of  all  time.  Your  pow- 
ers are  locked  in  the  secret  of  your  own  mind,  un- 
known to  any  but  yourself ;  and  if  you  will  do  high 
things,  then  you  must  act  independently  of  the 
opinions  of  others.  In  this  way  your  actions  will 
be  the  normal  expression  of  your  true  self. 
Where  there  is  the  will  there  is  the  way.  John 
Knox  cried  to  God :  "  Give  me  Scotland,  or  I 
die."  He  got  Scotland ;  and  so  do  men  get  the  de- 
sires of  their  hearts  when  they  desire  them  su- 
premely. Thus  must  we  be  what  we  would  be,  in 
order  to  richly  and  fully  live. 

Christ  went  apart  into  the  wilderness  to  be 
tested  and  proven,  and  when  weighed  in  the  bal- 
ance was  not  found  wanting.  Life  is  a  sifting 
process,  and  there  is  a  moral  survival  of  the  fittest. 
Every  man  is  likewise  being  weighed  in  the  bal- 
ance, is  being  tested  and  proven.  And  in  the  end, 
like  lord  Christ,  we  must  stand  or  fall  alone.  We 
must  triumph  alone,  suffer  alone,  and  die  alone. 
Friends  may  sympathize  with  us,  but  they  can  not 
assuage  our  griefs.  Their  sympathy  is  but  the 
counterfeit  of  our  real  sorrow.  None  can  know 
the  secret  depths  of  our  hearts  but  ourselves.  In 
the  great  moral  struggle  of  life  there  come  to  us 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  125 

impulses  which  are  known  to  us  alone.  Goethe 
declared  that  he  found  in  himself  the  germs  of  all 
crime.  Who  but  has  shuddered  and  awakened 
with  a  start  at  the  thoughts  he  has  found  to 
lodge  in  his  own  breast?  Who  but  has  sincerely 
prayed:  "Deliver  us  from  temptation"?  The 
motive-springs  of  life  are  deep  within,  and  none 
can  search  them  out.  There  germinate  the 
secret  impulses  which  make  for  our  good  or 
evil. 

The  test  of  life  must  be  the  strength  of  soul 
within.  The  soul  is  the  treasure  precious  that 
must  be  guarded  with  all  jealous  care.  It  is  more 
to  be  desired  than  gold.  You  may  become  impov- 
erished by  becoming  rich ;  you  may  gain  money  at 
the  expense  of  mind ;  but  what  doth  it  profit  a 
man  if  he  gain  the  world  and  lose  his  soul?  A 
full,  rich  life  of  the  spirit  seems  to  be  the  con- 
summate end  of  our  existence ;  all  else  is  but  a 
means  thereto.  And  whatever  the  cost  of  its 
achievement,  no  one  can  pay  the  price  for  us. 
We  must  attain  to  it  alone.  How  solitary  Christ 
stood  in  the  mighty  moral  conflict  which  he  waged 
with  the  spirit  of  his  age!  He  battled  single- 
handed  and  alone,  but  because  of  the  lofty  emi- 
nence of  the  truths  which  he  set  on  high  before  the 
world,  sealed  with  his  martyr  blood,  the  eternal 
years  are  measured  from  his  birth,  and  he  is 
crowned  lord  of  all.  Such  is  the  enduring  meed  of 
homage  paid  to  the  faithful  bearer  of  the  truth 
and    righteousness.     The    conquerors    were    con- 


126  CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION 

quered  by  the  simple  truth,  and  the  world  brought 
under  the  easy  yoke  of  Christ. 

Finally  we  must  walk  into  the  valley  and  shadow 
of  death  alone.  The  agony  is  ours  and  can  be 
borne  by  none  other.  Our  suffering  and  our  dy- 
ing is  an  experience  within  ourselves,  a  sacrament 
of  which  others  can  not  partake.  We  die  alone. 
When  his  followers  had  been  scattered  like  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  and  Christ  hung  upon  the 
cross,  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  throng,  deserted 
even  by  his  disciples,  it  would  seem  that,  for  the 
moment,  his  heart  broke  with  the  anguish  of  deso- 
lation. "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me?  "  ^  As  the  deep  shadows  encircled  him, 
they  appear  temporarily  to  have  eclipsed  even  his 
vision  of  God.  And  no  hour  is  so  dark  to  men  as 
when  they  lose  their  sight  of  God  and  immortality. 
Then  indeed  are  they  without  hope  in  the  world. 
But  it  is  evident  that  Christ  was  submerged  with 
despair  but  for  the  moment ;  for  presently  we  hear 
him  say :  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit."  ^^  Thus,  after  all,  he  was  not  alone,  for 
the  eternal  Presence  was  there.  Defeated  was  he, 
yet  victor;  crucified,  yet  crowned. 

9  St.  Mark  15:34. 
lost.  Luke  23:46. 


CHAPTER  V 
TEMPTATION 


"  Temptations  do  not  defile  a  man  except  through 
his  own  slackness  and  want  of  diligence  in  turning 
aside  from  them." 

St.  Gregory. 

"  To  be  tempted." 

St.  Matthew  4:  1. 

"  Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma  or  a  hideous  dream. 
The  Genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
Are  then  in  council;  and  the  state  of  man. 
Like  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection." 

Shakespeare,  "  Julius  Caesar,"  Act  II,  Sc.  1. 


CHAPTER  V 

TEMPTATION 

Temptation  is  a  possibility  because  of  the  con- 
stitution of  our  moral  nature.  We  are  essentially 
endowed  with  the  capacity  of  making  judgments 
concerning  the  good  and  the  evil,  and  of  recogniz- 
ing our  obligation  to  choose  the  one  and  eschew 
the  other.  But  the  making  of  such  judgments, 
and  the  choosing  between  such  possible  alterna- 
tives, imply  freedom  both  of  the  intellect  and  the 
will.  It  is  only  by  freedom  of  intellect  in  the 
process  of  the  judgment  that  we  can  discriminate 
between  the  elements  that  go  to  make  up  what  is 
good  and  what  is  evil.  The  process  involves  a 
comparing  and  contrasting  of  all  the  factors  in 
the  case,  and  finally  a  selecting  and  synthesizing 
of  such  as  go  to  make  up  the  required  judgment. 
The  freedom  of  the  will  is  itself  manifest  in  this 
selective  and  directive  activity  of  the  mind  in  the 
formation  of  judgments,  but  is  more  especially 
recognized  in  the  determination  of  our  personal 
relation  to  the  good  and  the  evil  when  they  are 
once  established.  It  is  this  function  of  freedom 
particularly  that  yields  us  the  sense  of  moral  evil 

and  of  personal  responsibility.     It  is  only  by  this 

129 


130  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

means  that  the  notions  of  good  and  evil  can  have 
any  moral  significance  for  us.  Freedom,  both  of 
intellect  and  will,  is  the  one  indispensable  condition 
of  all  morality.  It  is,  therefore,  the  basal  ground 
of  all  possible  temptation. 

A  presupposition  of  all  our  thought  must  be 
that  both  good  and  evil  are  made  possible,  not  in 
any  arbitrary  way,  but  only  by  the  inherent  na- 
ture of  things,  by  the  essential  laws  of  the  total 
world  order  as  given  in  experience.  Unless  this 
were  true,  there  could  be  no  moral  obligation  of  any 
character;  one  thing  would  be  just  as  good  as  an- 
other, one  course  of  action  as  right  as  another, 
and  all  alike  would  be  morally  indifferent.  It  is 
because  there  is  good  in  the  constitution  and  na- 
ture of  things  that  we  are  under  the  absolute 
moral  obligation  to  be  and  to  act  in  harmony  with 
it.  This  sense  of  obligation  to  love  and  serve 
the  good  we  characterize  as  duty.  There  is  duty 
to  fulfill,  only  because  there  is  good  to  be  realized. 
It  is  evident,  in  this  relation,  that  temptation 
would  consist  in  the  impulse  to  choose  the  evil  in- 
stead of  the  good,  and  to  shun  duty  instead  of 
obey  its  commands,  because  of  some  real  or  sup- 
posed personal  advantage  in  doing  so. 

Our  nature  is  so  complex  as  to  make  possible 
a  great  variety  of  goods.  Thus,  for  example,  we 
require  goods  of  the  intellect,  goods  of  the  sensi- 
bilities, and  goods  of  the  will.  But  it  is  evident 
that  the  good  has  its  roots  primarily  in  the  spon- 
taneous   impulses   of   life.     These   impulses,   how- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  ISl 

ever,  left  to  themselves,  are  blind  and  unthinking, 
and  could  not  but  result  in  barbarism.  In  order 
that  they  may  yield  the  real  goods  of  life  these 
crude  impulses  must  be  worked  over  into  rational 
forms  by  the  critical  understanding.  But  this  is 
an  extended  process  running  through  the  whole  of 
our  experience.  Morality,  therefore,  is  a  growth 
both  in  the  life  of  the  individual  and  in  the  life  of 
the  race.  For  this  reason  duty  has  to  be  enforced 
largely  by  the  authority  of  customs  and  the  sanc- 
tity of  public  opinion,  which  have  been  hallowed 
by  tradition  and  are  supposed  to  possess  the  favor 
of  God  Himself.  In  fact,  the  moral  laws  of  any 
time  or  place  are  none  other  than  formulas  which 
give  expression  to  the  real  will  of  the  community 
in  which  they  prevail.  It  is  because  of  this  de- 
veloping order  in  the  moralization  of  the  world 
that  a  course  of  action  in  any  given  age  may  be 
condemned  by  the  succeeding  age,  and  that  the 
judgments  of  an  individual  and  of  a  community 
which  at  one  time  found  the  highest  sanction,  at 
another  time  may  meet  with  the  severest  oppro- 
brium. The  necessity  for  our  falling  back  upon 
race  experience  and  developed  moral  judgments, 
as  expressed  in  customs  and  traditions,  is  because 
of  our  lack  of  experience  and  proper  knowledge 
of  what  the  good  really  is  in  the  given  case.  And 
for  this  reason  we  are  unable  to  determine  infalli- 
bly Avhat  duty  actually  demands.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, that  customs  may  be  perpetuated  which  in 
themselves  are  immoral,  in  which  case  there  is  the 


132  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

possibility  of  open  rebellion  between  the  sub- 
jective moral  sense  of  the  individual  and  the  ob- 
jective code  of  society.  If  this  be  well-grounded 
it  must  ultimately  result  in  a  reformation.  But 
notwithstanding  empirical  uncertainty,  we  may 
rest  with  all  assurance  in  this  ultimate  principle: 
duty  can  only  require  that  we  love  and  serve  that 
which  we  know,  or  believe  to  be,  the  good  and  the 
right.  More  than  this  it  can  not  demand.  And 
when  duty  is  faithfully  and  lovingly  performed 
there  results  that  high  moral  estate  which  we  term 
virtue.  By  virtue  we  mean  the  good  and  right- 
eousness realized  in  life.  In  this  relation  tempta- 
tion would  consist  of  the  impulse  to  violate  custom 
and  the  moral  law  instead  of  observing  them.,  and 
thus  to  choose  a  life  of  vice  instead  of  virtue. 

The  feeling  of  obligation  or  duty  which  we  en- 
tertain toward  the  good  is  designated  as  con- 
science. Conscience  may  be  defined  as  the  judg- 
ment of  moral  self-approval  or  disapproval  rela- 
tive to  our  action  or  state  of  being.  In  the  re- 
ligious sense  conscience  has  been  conceived  as  the 
voice  of  God ;  but  it  is  evident  that  this  is  no  more 
true  than  that  God  speaks  through  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  indeed  perhaps  not  so  much  so,  since 
great  crimes  without  number  have  been  committed 
in  the  name  of  conscience,  whereas  the  laws  of  na- 
ture seem  to  be  reasonably  infallible.  Both  the 
approving  and  condemning  judgments  of  con- 
science imply  freedom  whereby  we  are  able  to  de- 
termine our  relation  to  given  alternatives,  other- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  133 

wise  judgments  of  our  personal  relation  thereto 
could  have  no  rational  meaning.  Conscience  is  an 
abiding  testimony  to  our  freedom  of  self-deter- 
mination within  certain  limits,  and  would  have  no 
meaning  apart  from  it. 

The  most  elemental  form  of  duty  and  conscience 
is  the  sense  of  inner  compulsion  to  obey  the  higher 
rational  demands  of  our  nature,  gained  through 
experience  and  acquired  habits,  instead  of  follow- 
ing the  blind  natural  impulses  of  our  lives.  And 
it  is  worthy  of  our  moral  nature  to  observe  that 
obedience  to  the  demand  of  this  higher  law,  guided 
by  enlightened  intelligence,  gives  us  possession  of 
that  most  perfect  of  all  beatitudes :  a  conscience 
void  of  offense  before  God  and  man.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  indulging  of  these  natural  impulses  when 
they  are  resisted  by  the  higher  rational  sense 
ends  in  remorse  and  the  feeling  of  discomfort  and 
shame.  Moral  laws,  however,  are  not  recognized 
with  intuitive  certainty,  and  conscience  does  not 
inerrantly  reveal  what  duty  demands ;  although 
under  the  guidance  of  reason,  moral  laws  are  em- 
pirical and  have  to  be  gradually  acquired.  Hence, 
in  our  earlier  years  particularly,  and  largely 
through  life,  duty  must  obtain  its  practical  sanc- 
tion from  actual  customs,  which  are  the  crystal- 
lization or  conscious  embodiment  of  the  moral  law. 
But  the  integrity  of  the  moral  order  and  the  guar- 
antee of  all  requital  must  finally  rest  back  upon 
the  holiness  and  righteousness  of  God  Himself  as 
the  intelligent  Executive  of  the  whole  world.     This 


184  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

must  be  the  ultimate  grounding  of  all  ethics.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  the  will  of  God  is  the  ab- 
solute good  and  right,  and  the  highest  obligation 
that  rests  upon  us  is  to  render  this  holy  will  a  lov- 
ing and  filial  service  in  just  so  far  as  it  may  be 
possible  to  know  it.  The  nature  of  temptation 
here  would  be  to  sin  against  conscience  and  deny 
obligation ;  to  follow  unchastened  impulses  instead 
of  the  higher  rational  law;  in  brief,  to  reject  the 
will  of  God. 

Man's  freedom  finally  issues  in  a  supreme  po- 
tentiality,—  namely,  the  power  to  determine  his 
actions  and  state  of  being  by  an  inner  conscious 
purpose  according  to  ideals.  He  has  the  ability, 
above  all  sensuous  impulses  and  inclinations,  to 
determine  the  course  of  his  life  by  reason  and  con- 
science in  harmony  with  purpose  and  law.  The 
universal  form  of  conscience  is  the  same:  the 
knowledge  of  a  higher  motive  or  will  by  which  the 
individual  feels  himself  internally  bound.  It  is 
this  higher  motive  that  yields  the  ideal  by  which 
the  individual  fashions  his  conduct.  But  it  is 
evident,  as  we  have  seen,  that  this  ideal  changes 
with  the  development  of  the  mental  life ;  it  becomes 
gradually  more  specific  and  the  individual  himself 
more  idealistic.  Finally,  the  highest  consensus 
of  opinion  as  expressed  in  custom  becomes  the  ideal 
of  the  individual,  unless  for  reasons  his  best  judg- 
ment rejects  the  conventional  values,  in  which  case 
he  begins  to  assert  new  truths  and  ideals,  and 
these   in  turn,   if   well-grounded,  may   at  last  be 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  135 

adopted  by  the  community.  But,  because  of  the 
empirical  character  of  morality  in  general,  it  is 
evident  that  this  is  liable  to  be  a  quite  constant 
process.  All  reformation  is  of  this  order  and 
there  is  a  necessity  for  its  continual  operation. 
The  reason  for  this  is  the  predisposition  of  the 
mind  to  dogmatism.  For  this  reason  palpable 
error  may  long  be  fostered  as  truth.  Lord  Bacon 
has  well  observed :  "  The  human  understanding, 
when  any  proposition  has  been  laid  down  (either 
from  general  admission  and  belief,  or  from  the  pleas- 
ure it  affords),  forces  everything  else  to  add  fresh 
support  and  confirmation ;  and  although  most 
cogent  and  abundant  instances  may  exist  to  the 
contrary,  yet  either  does  not  observe  or  despises 
them,  or  gets  rid  of  and  rejects  them  by  somiC  dis- 
tinction, with  violent  and  injurious  prejudice 
rather  than  sacrifice  the  authority  of  its  first  con- 
clusions." ^  In  this  manner  fixed  beliefs  may  viti- 
ate and  govern  every  other  circumstance,  although 
the  latter  may  be  much  more  worthy  of  confidence. 
Of  such  character  are  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
progress.  More  interest  by  far  is  often  shown  in 
defending  traditional  maxims,  although  errone- 
ous, than  in  honest  endeavor  to  discover  the  truth. 
From  these  principles  it  follows  that  temptation 
would  be  the  impulse  to  sin  against  the  higher 
light  and  ideals  of  life.  In  final  consummation  it 
may  result  in  the  general  rejection  of  all  rational 
demands  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  pursuit  of  the 
1  "  Novum  Organum,"  Bk.  I.  Aph.  XLVI. 


136  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

most  prodigal  and  dissolute  conduct.  It  is,  fur- 
thermore, much  easier  to  follow  the  traditional 
way  than  to  be  a  reformer  and  a  martyr.  It  is  so 
much  easier  for  Peter  to  deny  the  Master  than  to 
be  honest  and  suffer  persecution !  Consequently 
the  temptation  is  ever  present  for  men  to  subside 
into  a  passive  life  of  ease  and  indifference  to  all 
higher  obligation,  or,  in  the  case  of  more  energetic 
souls,  to  break  off  all  moral  restraint  and  plunge 
into  a  life  of  irrational  indulgence. 

In  harmony  with  the  foregoing  considerations 
temptation  may  be  of  the  most  varied  character. 
There  is,  in  fact,  no  possible  sphere  of  the  mind's 
action  but  that  temptation  may  arise.  It  is  with 
this  matter  as  it  is  with  the  truth  in  general: 
truth  is  single,  whereas  error  is  manifold.  Like- 
wise the  good  is  one,  in  every  given  case,  and  the 
bad  is  all  other  besides.  It  was  in  view  of  this 
fact  that  Christ  declared  in  the  sermon  on  the 
mount :  "  Wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way 
that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many  there  be 
that  goeth  in  thereat :  because  strait  is  the  gate, 
and  narrow  is  the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and 
few  there  be  that  find  it."  ^  The  realm  of  possi- 
ble temptation,  therefore,  is  almost  infinite,  and 
the  impulse  to  anything  whatever,  outside  the 
sphere  of  the  right,  may  lead  to  evil.  To  be 
tempted  in  any  manner  then  may  be  interpreted 
as  fundamentally  meaning  the  being  tested  and 
tried  by  the  various  possible  forms  of  wrong. 

2  St.  Matt.  7:13,  14. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  137 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  ethical  values 
have  their  roots  in  the  spontaneous  impulses  of 
life.  These  primal  impulses  yield  the  sense  of 
either  pleasure  or  pain,  according  as  they  make 
for  the  well-being  or  destruction  of  life.  In  the 
determination  of  what  is  good  and  what  evil,  the 
good  is  supposed  to  be  that  which  is  the  pleasur- 
able, and  the  evil,  contrariwise,  the  painful.  This 
is  true  both  in  a  physical  and  spiritual  sense. 
Physical  pain  indicates  the  destruction  of  vital 
powers,  and  thereby  becomes  the  necessary  means 
of  self-preservation.  Pleasure,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  the  index  of  healthful  vigor  and  well-being. 
Pain,  therefore,  is  a  warning,  whereas  pleasure  is 
an  allurement ;  and  both  alike  are  means  of  the 
free  guidance  of  the  will.  Thus  both  painful  and 
pleasurable  activity  are  indispensable  to  human 
life.  Hence  we  would  not  desire  to  be  rid  of  pain 
even  if  we  could.  This  would  mean  a  life  free 
from  all  conflict  and  struggle,  from  all  failure  and 
triumph,  which  would  be  unspeakably  insipid  and 
altogether  intolerable.  Life  is  so  constituted 
that  we  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  to  battle  for 
the  right,  and  count  it  a  happiness  to  sacrifice 
for  our  chosen  cause,  and  to  labor  painfully  if 
need  be  for  the  realization  of  our  ideals.  All  this 
certainly  furnishes  a  necessary  element  in  human 
life.  Obstruction  and  failure  give  pain,  but  tri- 
umph brings  pleasure.  These  are  the  antitheses 
that  stir  men's  souls,  and  are  the  mighty  motive- 
springs   that  lead  to  heroic   action.     As   Carlyle 


138  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

has  so  well  said :  "  Difficulty,  abnegation,  mar- 
tyrdom, death,  are  the  allurements  that  act  on  the 
hearts  of  men."  Life,  indeed,  in  its  most  intense 
form  is  tragedy,  and  excites  every  powerful  emo- 
tion, stirs  to  the  utmost  height  and  depth  every 
feeling  and  impulse  which  slumber  in  the  hearts 
of  men.  It  is  evident  also  that  this  is  as  it  should 
be,  for  man  would  not  be  capable  of  these  high 
passions  unless  he  were  constituted  for  them. 
Love  and  hate,  courage  and  despair,  happiness  and 
remorse,  revenge  and  mercy,  anger  and  magna- 
nimity are  but  the  octaves  in  the  manual  of  the 
symphony  of  man. 

Although  certain  schools  of  thinkers  have  main- 
tained that  pleasure  is  the  only  good  and  pain 
the  only  bad,  yet  it  is  evident  that  pleasure  can 
not  be  the  end  of  action  in  itself.  For  we  must 
observe  that  when  impulse  is  satisfied,  then  pleas- 
ure ceases.  It  has  no  abiding  value  in  it.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  clear  that  the  will  does  not  aim 
directly  at  pleasure,  but  at  a  particular  content 
of  life.  Epicurus  himself  recognized  this  fact 
when  he  pointed  out  that  the  intellectual  pleas- 
ures are  superior  to  and  more  abiding  than  the 
sensual.  In  fact,  all  ethical  theory  which  has 
been  conscious  of  its  aims  has  recognized  the  va- 
lidity of  this  claim.  The  real  goal  of  the  will  is  a 
spiritual  and  moral  content  of  life,  even  though 
it  require  great  pain  and  sacrifice  to  attain  to  it. 
The  impulse  for  activity,  the  functioning  of  our 
powers  precede  all  consciousness  of  pleasure.     Im- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  139 

pulse   or   will    is   primary ;    feeling  is   secondary. 

Pleasure  is  but  an  accompaniment  of  the  will;  it 

is  the  sign  that  the  will  has  realized  its  purpose 

and  end.      Both  pleasure  and  pain  are  but  stages 

of  consciousness  which  accompany  action  and  will. 

Life,  therefore,  is  teleologic;  not  pleasure,  but  the 

ideal  of  what  we  desire  to  be,  is  the  real  end  of 

human    endeavor.     This    alone    is    commensurate 

with   the   dignity   of   our   nature.      This   was   the 

view  of  Aristotle  (and  the  ancient  Greeks),  who 

in  writing  concerning  the  highest  good  declared: 

"  Happiness  or  welfare  consists  in  the  exercise  of 

all  human   virtues   and   capacities,   especially   the 

highest."     Since  virtues   differ,   and  mind  is   the 

greatest  thing  in  man,  philosophy  or  wisdom  must 

constitute   the   central   purpose   of  life.     Finally 

the  good  must  be  constituted  in  its  relation  to  the 

absolute.     But  as  Paulsen  points  out,  this  can  be 

done  only  symbolically.     "  In  so  far  as  we  desire 

to  characterize  the  All-Real  as  the  highest  good 

we  call  it  God.     And  its  manifestation  in  a  world 

of  mental-historical  life,  which  is  embraced  in  the 

unity  of  its  spiritual  essence,  we  call  the  kingdom 

of  God."  3 

Our    conclusion,    therefore,    is    that    happiness 

must  result  from  meeting  the  highest  demands  of 

the  soul.     And  this  can  be  done  only  by  an  active 

endeavor,  a  filling  of  life  with  energetic  purpose, 

and  a  healthful  endeavor  to  realize  that  purpose. 

aPauUen:    "A  System  of  Ethics,"  Ch.  II,  "The  Highest 
Good." 


140  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

And  even  if  we  should  fail  to  reach  the  purpose  of 
our  striving,  yet  the  very  striving  itself  has  in  it 
the  highest  value  perhaps  that  the  soul  can  obtain 
therefrom.  Action  is  the  law  of  life,  and  ethical 
life  demands  ethical  action.  Hence  energetic  ac- 
tivity and  worthy  purpose  are  the  best  of  all 
means  to  happiness.  We  may  even  say  that  it  is 
not  only  a  means,  but  is  a  worthy  end  in  itself,  so 
long  as  it  is  guided  by  high  motives.  It  is  better 
to  fight  and  lose  than  not  to  fight  at  all.  The 
supreme  object,  therefore,  must  be  the  perfect  ex- 
ercise and  development  of  all  our  human  faculties. 
Such  modes  of  conduct  and  volition  also  must  be 
good  as  tend  to  realize  the  highest  goal  of  the  will. 
Conduct  is  morally  good  when  it  tends  to  further 
the  welfare  or  perfection  of  the  agent  and  his  sur- 
roundings and  is  accompanied  by  a  sense  of  duty. 
We  may  further  observe,  however,  that  the 
pleasurable,  and  therefore  the  desirable,  may  at 
times  come  into  conflict  with  that  which  is  right 
and  consequently  ought  to  be.  Desire  may  come 
into  opposition  with  duty.  We  may  yield  to  the 
incentives  of  pleasure  rather  than  obeying  stead- 
fastly the  mandates  of  obligation.  It  is  perhaps 
true  that  the  pleasurable,  for  the  greater  part,  is 
in  harmony  with  that  which  ought  to  be.  Desire 
and  duty,  in  large  measure,  coincide.  Neverthe- 
less, it  is  often  true  in  life  that  they  come  into 
irreconcilable  conflict.  It  is  here,  then,  that 
temptation  is  primarily  engendered.  The  dispo- 
sition to  follow  a  lower  motive  of  action  instead 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  141 

of  the  higher,  the  impulse  to  choose  desire  instead 
of  duty,  the  conscious  yielding  to  wrong  incentives 
instead  of  holding  to  the  right, —  of  this  character 
and  nature  are  all  temptations. 

But  that  the  pleasurable  is  not  always  the  good 
is  evident,  since  it  is  possible  that  the  known  good 
may  demand  of  us  the  course  that  is  directly  con- 
trary to  our  every  desire  and  pleasure,  and, 
instead,  is  positively  painful.  Desire  and  duty 
thus  come  into  sharp  conflict.  The  course  which 
is  painful  may  result  in  the  greater  known  good. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  evident  that  the  real  good  must 
rest  back  upon  the  pleasurable  ultimately,  or  that 
which  yields  some  kind  of  pleasure.  But  here  a 
distinction  is  necessary :  there  are  merely  sensual 
or  bodily  pleasures,  and  there  are  also  rational 
pleasures  or  such  as  are  related  to  our  total  con- 
ception of  life.  Although  duty  may  command  us 
to  do  what  is  really  painful,  yet  in  the  end  it  may 
appear  to  be  the  only  course  that  will  result  in 
rational  or  inner  happiness.  The  circumstances 
in  the  given  case  must  determine  the  good  and 
duty,  but  in  general  we  may  say  that  it  is  only 
as  we  are  able  to  make  duty  subservient  to  reason 
and  permit  the  higher  demands  of  life,  as  best  we 
understand  them,  to  govern  our  course  of  action, 
that  final  good  and  the  greatest  possible  happi- 
ness can  be  achieved.  And  here,  as  everywhere, 
we  must  remember  that  there  is  no  external  moral 
standard-meter  by  which  we  are  to  judge  our  con- 
duct of  life.     It  is  true,  to  be  sure,  that  the  cus- 


142  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

toms  of  the  community  give  us  a  standard  of  gen- 
eral conduct,  and  for  the  most  part  they  may  be 
accepted.  But  when  this  is  degraded  into  the 
dictum,  "  When  in  Rome,  do  as  the  Romans  do," 
it  can  not  be  a  categorical  imperative.  Duty  ma}'^ 
compel  us  to  act  in  the  very  face  of  the  Romans. 
In  general,  however,  customs  aim  at  the  welfare 
of  the  collective  body  of  society,  and  since  the  in- 
dividual's good  is  contained  therein,  his  welfare 
is  bound  up  in  that  of  the  community.  Conflict 
of  the  individual  with  the  community,  therefore, 
would  be  only  incidental.  Will  and  obligation  do 
not  always  coincide  in  the  individual  because  he 
does  what  he  ought  not  to  do,  and  then  the  law 
limits  his  will.  Although  customs  may  generally 
be  taken  as  the  standard  of  right  conduct,  yet  the 
leadings  of  the  inner  and  enlightened  conscience 
can  be  the  only  ultimate  standard  of  judgment 
and  determination.  From  these  principles  we 
conclude  that  the  impulse  to  yield  to  desire  and 
inclination  and  to  renounce  the  good  and  duty  is 
the  very  essence  of  all  temptation. 

As  in  all  the  other  relations  of  life,  so  likewise 
in  the  ethical  nature  of  man  there  is  the  need  of 
discipline  in  order  to  the  development  of  our  ca- 
pacities. To  begin  with,  we  are  only  potentially 
moral, —  that  is,  we  are  neither  moral  nor  im- 
moral, but  only  candidates  for  either  estate.  It 
must  be  evident  to  all,  therefore,  that  trial  and  a 
proving  of  ourselves  are  the  absolutely  essential 
conditions  of  every  moral  nature  for  its  normal 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  143 

unfolding  and  development.  Life  is  a  warfare, 
and  a  survival  of  the  fittest.  The  giant  oak  has 
become  strong  through  the  withstanding  of  the 
lightning's  blast  and  the  winter's  storms ;  so  like- 
wise we  grow  strong  in  all  the  relations  of  our 
lives  by  a  process  of  overcoming,  and  this  is  pe- 
culiarly emphatic  in  the  moral  nature.  Our  lives 
are  a  veritable  struggle  for  moral  existence. 

The  little  child  grows  strong  only  by  overcom- 
ing physical  and  mental  resistance.  Our  bodies 
are  made  to  withstand  by  persistent  endeavor,  and 
they  even  learn  to  resist  the  attack  of  disease,  be- 
coming immune  from  it  again,  having  successfully 
fought  it  once.*  The  mind  also  grows  and  devel- 
ops in  power  only  by  trial  and  rejection,  by  a 
proving  all  things  and  holding  fast  that  which  is 
good.  In  like  manner  the  moral  nature  unfolds, 
strengthens,  and  becomes  secure  only  by  a  con- 
tinual exercise  of  the  ethical  functions.  There  is 
no  exception  to  the  law,  and  here,  as  everywhere, 
action  is  the  law  of  life.  We  may  possess  life 
only  by  winning  it. 

Furthermore,  we  are  constituted  for  such  devel- 
opment, as  is  seen  in  every  phase  of  our  nature 
and  lives.  In  our  intelligent  nature  we  begin  life 
without  knowing  anything.  We  have  to  learn 
everything.  Also  the  w^orld  itself  is  so  consti- 
tuted that  the  truth  does  not  lie  on  the  surface, 
but,  as  expressed  by  the  ancient  proverb,  it  is 
hidden  in  mystery.     "  It  is  the  glory  of  God  to 

4Cf.   World's  Work,  Sept.  1909,  Art.  "Typhoid." 


144  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

conceal  a  thing;  but  the  honor  of  kings  is  to 
search  out  a  matter."  ^  The  truth  is  veiled,  for 
the  greater  part,  and  only  slowly  and  with  great 
labor  have  we  been  able  to  come  to  a  knowledge 
of  it.  A  standing  illustration  of  this  fact  is  seen 
in  the  whole  history  of  science  and  philosophy. 
One  conception  or  theory  has  supplanted  another 
throughout  the  whole  course  of  human  thinking. 
New  facts  discovered  and  old  facts  more  closely 
observed  in  every  relation  of  experience  have  re- 
quired a  new  adjustment  of  thought.  Step  by 
step  the  empirical  sciences  have  been  thus  worked 
out  into  their  present  form.  Owing  to  the  neces- 
sity of  undoing  much  of  the  work  that  he  had 
once  done,  because  of  new  discoveries  to  which  it 
had  to  be  adjusted,  Dr.  Asa  Gray  was  accus- 
tomed to  remark,  playfully,  that  he  did  not  be- 
lieve in  the  permanency  of  species  because  he  had 
had  to  make  and  unmake  so  many  of  them.  The 
intellect  develops  in  its  discovery  and  extent  of 
knowledge  from  age  to  age,  and  thus  science  and 
philosophy  are  formulated.  But  the  mind  also 
develops  thereby  in  its  power  of  thinking.  We 
gain,  not  only  in  the  extent  of  knowledge,  but  in 
our  ability  to  weigh  the  truth  and  interpret  facts. 
In  every  phase  of  intellectual  life  we  thus  develop 
from  a  state  of  mere  potentiality  up  to  that  of  the 
highest  actuality.  We  have  to  search  the  matter 
out,  find  the  truth  and  distinguish  it  from  error, 
and  slowly  establish  the  world  of  rational  thought. 
5  Prov.  25 : 2. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  145 

To  begin  with,  the  world  to  us  is  a  chaos ;  the 
mind  has  to  work  over  the  raw  material  of  experi- 
ence into  a  rational  world-order.  It  aims  at  or- 
ganism, system  and  harmonious  relation,  as  well 
as  their  meaning  and  ultimate  interpretation. 
The  goal  of  intelligence  is  science  and  philosophi/. 
It  is  in  the  realm  of  the  sensibilities,  however, 
that  we  distinguish  between  the  pleasurable  and 
the  painful,  the  beautiful  and  the  ugly.  In  this 
field  of  experience,  likewise,  we  have  to  develop 
from  the  mere  potentiality  or  spontaneous  ca- 
pacity of  sensible  life  into  the  ability  to  articulate 
our  objects  of  thought  by  the  training  of  observa- 
tion and  the  critical  appreciation  of  values.  To 
begin  with,  we  do  not  know  how  to  observe,  but 
have  to  learn,  and  thus  gradually  make  our  way 
to  a  perfected  regulation  of  the  sensibilities.  Also 
beginning  with  barbarous  crudities  of  evaluation 
there  is  the  slow  development  of  good  taste  and 
the  sense  of  the  beautiful.  We  have  to  learn  by 
actual  experience  what  results  in  the  pleasurable 
and  what  the  painful,  what  is  the  beautiful  and 
what  the  ugly.  The  development  of  these  sensi- 
bilities terminates  in  the  highest  culture  and  re- 
finement. With  reference  to  cultivated  tastes 
we  mean  thereby  that  given  likes  or  dislikes,  or 
judgments  of  the  beautiful  and  the  ugly,  have 
reached  certain  acceptable  standards.  Hence  it 
may  be  seen  that  this  fundamental  culture  and 
development  of  the  sensibilities  performs  a  twofold 
function :  first,  it  furnishes  us  the  elemental  data 


146  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

of  all  experiential  knowledge ;  secondly,  gives  us 
right  appreciation  and  proper  judgments  of  feel- 
ings and  refinements.  The  sensibilities  issue  in 
the  science  of  the  beautiful  or  (Esthetics. 

Likewise,  in  relation  to  the  will,  our  supreme 
aim  is  to  choose  the  good  from  the  evil  and  the  bad 
both  in  conduct  and  character.  But  we  also  have 
to  learn  what  the  good  is.  Socrates  argued  that 
the  good  exists,  and  made  this  ground  for  the  pos- 
sibility of  knowledge.  Since  the  good  is,  and 
men  cannot  do  the  good  unless  they  know  it,  there- 
fore knowledge  must  be  possible.  He  further- 
more held  that  if  men  only  knew  the  good  they 
would  do  it,  for  he  thought  it  inconceivable  that 
they  would  do  the  evil  knowingly,  for  this  would 
be  equal  to  their  doing  that  which  would  injure 
themselves.  In  this,  without  doubt,  Socrates  was 
in  error,  for  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
men  often  do  what  they  know  to  be  injurious 
to  themselves.  Nevertheless,  we  must  know  the 
good  before  we  can  do  it.  But  it  is  certain  that 
we  can  know^  what  the  good  is  only  as  we  learn 
it  from  experience  and  reflection  thereon.  The 
whole  problem  as  to  what  the  good  really  is  we 
have  found  to  be  a  difficult  one.  Only  very  gen- 
eral expressions  can  be  given  for  it  at  all.  It  has 
to  be  recognized  directly  in  specific  things,  actions 
and  states  of  being.  Generally  we  do  not  need 
to  be  told  what  is  our  dut}'^ ;  and  we  know  it  to  be 
duty  because  of  the  implicit  or  explicit  good  in 
it  which  makes  it  a  duty  for  us.     By  nature  we 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  147 

are  capable  of  many  goods,  but  their  laws  and 
conditions  cannot  be  determined  **  a  priority,'' 
but  only  by  wide  and  observant  experience.  This 
then  is  the  aim  of  the  discipline  and  culture  of 
the  will  which  issues  in  the  science  of  ethics. 

Goods  in  general  may  be  considered  of  two 
classes:  First,  objective  goods.  These  pertain  to 
the  conditions  of  our  physical  well-being  and  outer 
good  fortune.  But  it  is  evident  that,  if  this  be 
regarded  as  the  indispensable  good  and  final  end 
of  life,  a  large  part  of  mankind  would  have  noth- 
ing before  them  but  failure.  But  a  man's  life  con- 
sisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  he 
possesseth.  To  eat  and  to  drink  are  not  all. 
Man  liveth  not  by  bread  alone.  However  nec- 
essary and  desirable  they  may  be,  the  aim 
and  values  of  life  cannot  be  centered  in  the 
objective  and  external  goods,  for  these  are 
often  quite  unobtainable,  and  when  obtained  are 
perishable  and  transient.  We  brought  nothing 
into  this  world  and  it  is  certain  we  can  carry  noth- 
ing out.  Secondly,  subjective  goods.  In  this, 
reference  is  made  to  the  inner  content  of  life, — 
that  is,  to  its  quality  rather  than  its  quantity. 
In  this  sense,  although  poor  yet  we  may  be  rich. 
Even  though  other  things  fail  us,  yet  the  strength 
within  lifts  us  on  high.  Life,  therefore,  must  not 
look  outside  itself  for  its  abiding  good, —  that  is, 
life  is  not  only  a  means  but  is  an  end  in  itself. 
The  goods  of  the  spirit  are  abiding,  and  yield  all 
goodness    and    righteousness    and    truth.     "  The 


148  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

fruit  of  the  spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  longsufFer- 
ing,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temper- 
ance :  against  such  there  is  no  law."  ^  That  is, 
against  such  there  is  no  possible  force  that  can  de- 
stroy, and  their  values  endure  forevermore. 

If  external  riches  were  the  standard  of  success 
in  the  world,  then  it  is  evident  most  men  must 
fail;  if  knowledge  be  the  requisite,  then  most  men 
do  fail,  even  though  not  necessarily.  If  the  at- 
taining to  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  which  all 
most  highly  esteem,  be  the  measure  of  success,  then 
it  is  evident  few  men  can  hope  to  count  at  all. 
But  if  to  live  simply  and  well,  to  do  our  whole  duty 
as  we  may  know  it,  to  live  honestly  and  truly,  and 
fulfill  our  duty  as  neighbors  and  friends,  as  par- 
ents and  children,  as  men  and  brethren  of  a  com- 
mon humanity,  then  in  this  noble  endeavor  none 
are  excluded,  and  all  may  aspire  to  the  highest. 
And  in  this  regard  the  true  kings  may  be  those 
who  stand  behind  the  throne.  The  truly  great 
may  not  be  those  who  receive  the  plaudits  of  men, 
but  may  be  the  obscure  and  even  the  despised. 
Christ  was  such,  although  the  greatest  of  all. 
"  He  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  your  serv- 
ant." ^ 

Still  further,  conduct  may  have  a  two-fold 
aspect :  first,  that  of  good  motive  or  intention, 
which  is  termed  the  formal  good ;  and  secondly, 
that  of  good  outcome  or  result,  which  is  termed 

6  Gal.  5:22. 

7  St.  Matt.  23:11. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  149 

material  good.  Now  so  strangely  are  we  consti- 
tuted that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  do  that  which 
in  itself  is  wrong  and  at  the  same  time  we  ourselves 
be  morally  right ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  we  may  do 
that  which  in  itself  is  right  and  at  the  same  time 
we  ourselves  be  wrong.  We  may  so  act  as  to  be 
formally  right  and  materially  wrong;  or,  be  ma- 
terially right  and  formally  wrong.  I  may  have 
the  purpose  to  do  a  good,  but  by  mistaken  knowl- 
edge actually  do  the  wrong ;  or  I  may  intend  to  do 
wrong,  and  by  mistaken  knowledge  actually  do 
the  right.  So  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned, 
the  good-will  or  right  motive  is  the  one  absolutely 
indispensable  condition  of  his  being  moral  at  all. 
On  the  other  hand,  right  actions  or  good  outcome 
is  the  greater  interest  for  the  social  body.  So- 
ciety cannot  determine  the  motives  that  may  gov- 
ern the  individual  but  insists  that  the  outcome 
must  be  that  which  is  desired.  It  is  evident  that 
both  formal  and  material  rightness  are  required  to 
complete  the  ethical  ideal. 

Now  it  is  evident  that  in  order  to  meet  fully 
these  conditions  we  necessarily  must  have  the  per- 
fect good-will,  which  is  a  possible  thing,  since  it  is 
within  the  bounds  of  our  own  determination ;  and 
likewise  perfect  knowledge,  which  is  not  possible 
for  us  in  this  world,  since  it  is  a  condition  partly 
outside  ourselves  and  hence  beyond  our  capacity, 
in  that  the  world  is  so  infinitely  complex  and  mul- 
tifold that  the  finite  mind  can  never  know  it  per- 
fectly.    Science  has  led  us  to  know  much,  but  the 


150  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

infinite  field  has  hardly  been  touched;  and  even  if 
every  department  of  knowledge  should  be  prac- 
tically perfected,  yet  so  various  are  the  fields  that 
no  one  mind  can  possess  complete  knowledge  even 
in  any  one  sphere,  to  say  nothing  of  any  other. 
Accordingly  we  have  to  be  specialists  in  a  chosen 
field.  It  is  possible  for  men  to  reach  perfection 
of  good-will  or  righteousness  of  motive,  yet  it  is 
impossible  for  them  ever  to  be  able  always  to 
do  rightly  because  of  necessary  ignorance.  How- 
ever, this  conclusion  appears  worse  formally  than 
it  is  actually,  since  wherever  there  is  the  good- 
will, with  reasonable  foresight  it  will  be  possible 
to  do  the  right  as  well  as  to  desire  it.  But  it  is 
further  evident  also  that  this  command  of  the 
will  and  this  high  perfection  of  ethical  well-being 
can  be  attained  by  experience  only, —  that  is,  by 
trial  and  rejection,  by  a  life  of  earnest  and 
thoughtful  discipline.  Only  by  development  can 
we  reach  any  perfection.  The  whole  world-order 
is  such  as  to  admit  of  and  demand  growth. 

The  notion  that  God  tempts  men  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  term  would  be  contrary  to  His  char- 
acter of  goodness,  and  would  impeach  His  ethical 
integrity.  But  that  God  should  have  ordained 
the  very  constitution  of  the  world  so  as  to  make 
possible  growth  and  development,  and  that  in  the 
unfolding  of  the  moral  nature  temptation  and  trial 
should  be  a  natural  part  simply  shows  forth  the 
greatness  and  beneficence  of  God,  His  wisdom  and 
goodness.     Freedom  may  indeed  be  perilous,  but 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  151 

what  would  man  be  without  it?  It  is  verily  the 
greatest  attribute  in  man,  and  through  it  human- 
ity approaches  most  nearly  unto  the  likeness  and 
image  of  God. 

Since  we  have  seen  that  our  lives  are  constituted 
for  development  through  discipline,  it  is  evident 
that  within  the  process  there  will  be  imperfect 
action  and  stumbling  because  of  our  very  fallibil- 
ity. If  we,  like  God,  were  perfect,  then  there 
would  be  no  such  thing  as  growth  and  no  need  of 
discipline.  Temptation,  however,  may  be  con- 
ceived as  possible  even  to  the  morally  perfect, 
even  God  Himself,  for  this  is  always  a  possibility 
of  the  free  moral  nature.  God  indeed  could  not 
be  conceived  as  having  a  moral  nature  at  all  un- 
less this  free  possible  choice  of  good  and  evil  be 
open  to  Him.  But  primarily  we  are  justified  in 
holding  that  moral  evil  is  actual  because  of  our 
finite  nature.  At  least,  this  is  the  phase  of  the 
problem  that  now  concerns  us. 

Evil  has  been  conceived  under  two  possibilities : 
physical  evil  and  moral  evil.  From  one  view- 
point it  may  be  questioned  whether  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  objective  or  physical  evil,  for  although 
there  are  earthquakes,  pestilence,  and  death-deal- 
ing calamities  constantly  occurring  as  a  fact,  yet 
it  may  be  that  in  the  economy  of  the  universe 
wisdom  and  goodness  are  best  wrought  out  in 
this  manner.  Of  course,  even  death  is  not  neces- 
sarily an  evil,  and  yet  death  is  generally  regarded 
as  the  worst  that  can  happen.     How  to  justify 


15£  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

evil  at  all  with  the  goodness  of  God  has  always 
been  a  matter  of  gravest  difficulty.  But  as  a 
working  hypothesis  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that 
the  world-order,  just  as  we  find  it,  must  be  best 
adapted  to  our  nature  and  needs.  The  condi- 
tions of  growth,  physical  and  spiritual,  require 
just  such  a  world  as  we  find  ourselves  in.  To  be 
sure,  evil  of  any  character  can  be  justified  only 
in  a  general  way, —  that  is,  evil  must  exist,  not  in 
and  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the  purpose  of  being 
overcome  in  the  development  and  realization  of 
the  good. 

Physical  evil  has  been  regarded  as  those  things 
which  hinder  the  conditions  of  man's  well-being. 
But  it  has  always  been  just  such  conditions  as  we 
actually  find  existing  that  have  stirred  men  to  ac- 
tion and  furnished  them  with  a  living  purpose. 
Civilization  is  but  the  triumph  over  such  obsta- 
cles, and  the  real  worth  and  virtue  in  man  have 
been  acquired  only  through  the  medium  of  resist- 
ance. Obstacles  have  been  the  stepping-stones  to 
higher  life. 

Moral  evil,  likewise,  seems  to  be  a  teleological 
necessity.  Without  potential  badness,  at  least, 
there  can  be  no  virtue.  Both  right  and  wrong 
are  necessary  implications  of  freedom.  Virtue, 
therefore,  must  also  be  attained  through  the  me- 
dium of  resistance.  Goodness  becomes  strong  by 
striving  against  evil.  The  great  moral  heroes 
have  always  been  the  great  strugglers.  The  will 
needs  the  resistance  of  evil.     Without  the  basal 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  153 

potentialities  as  they  really  are,  life  would  be  col- 
orless and  happiness  itself  impossible.  The  good 
is  constructive ;  the  evil  is  destructive ;  and  to- 
gether they  furnish  the  battle-ground  of  the  will. 
Virtue  is  achieved,  vice  is  relieved,  only  by  per- 
sistent striving.  The  fancy  that  life  would  be  so 
much  better  if  all  obstacles  were  only  removed  is 
beautifully  answered  by  Kant  in  his  figure  of  the 
light  dove  thinking  to  herself  how  much  better 
she  could  fly  if  she  were  only  in  a  vacuum  instead 
of  having  to  beat  her  wings  against  the  resisting 
air. 

So  far  as  so-called  cosmic  evil  is  concerned,  it 
is  certain  that  we  are  bound  up  in  the  world  proc- 
ess in  a  manner  that  we  can  neither  help  nor  hin- 
der; all  in  this  domain  is  outside  the  bounds  of 
our  free  volition.  It  is  only  in  the  realm  of  our 
moral  nature  that  we  have  freedom  of  determin- 
ing our  action  and  state  of  being.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, then,  it  is  only  in  the  sphere  of  moral  freedom 
that  temptation  is  possible.  The  world  is  con- 
stituted for  the  moralization  of  life,  and  no  act 
or  experience  is  so  insignificant  as  to  have  no  value 
in  the  formation  of  character.  Trials  are  in- 
tended for  our  salvation.  To  learn  to  endure 
hardness  is  vital.  To  live  at  all  is  a  struggle, 
and  to  live  well  is  an  exalted  labor.  Difficulties 
are  beneficent  goads  to  prod  us  on  to  our  highest 
self-realization.  As  parents  correct  and  punish 
children,  not  just  for  the  sake  of  punishment  but 
for  their  ultimate  highest  good,  so  we  may  regard 


154  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

human  afflictions  as  serving  the  greatest  moral 
ends.  The  violet,  when  crushed  beneath  the  feet, 
sends  forth  its  sweetest  perfume ;  and  human  life, 
when  tried  and  buffeted,  reveals  the  most  fragrant 
virtues.  It  is  true  that  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He 
chasteneth ;  but  no  chastening  for  the  present 
seemeth  joyous.  We  now  see  through  the  glass 
darkly ;  the  end  is  mercifully  withholden  from  us. 
Could  we  but  see  face  to  face,  we  would  clearly 
realize  that  every  battle  we  have  to  fight  is  the 
means  of  disciplining  us  for  the  highest  of  all  pos- 
sible ends :  namely,  the  perfecting  of  the  moral 
life. 

The  entire  possibility  of  temptation  is  founded 
in  the  ethical  constitution  of  man.  Innately,  all 
our  powers  are  merely  potential.  To  begin  with, 
man  is  merely  morally  indifferent ;  that  is,  he  is 
neither  actually  moral  nor  immoral,  but  may  be- 
come either.  Our  powers  are  unfolded  and  come 
to  realization  only  gradually.  All  our  moral  life 
and  conceptions  are  built  up  in  this  way.  We  be- 
gin with  concrete  acts  and  specific  duties,  and  by 
experience  determine  their  relative  value.  The 
good  and  the  evil  are  thus  gradually  differenti- 
ated, and  the  results  are  codified  into  moral  laws 
and  customs.  We  have  to  learn  both  good  and 
evil,  and  thus  step  by  step  our  moral  world  is  con- 
stituted. Growing  out  of  these  concrete  facts  of 
experience,  good  and  evil  are  finally  universalized, 
and  become  recognized  as  the  antithetical  fields 
of   man's    possible   moral    operations.     And    this 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  155 

idealizing  process  is  consummated  when  the  prin- 
ciples of  good  and  evil  are  lifted  up  into  the  realm 
of  the  Infinite  and  embodied,  not  in  mechanical  or 
merely  unconscious  forces,  but  are  elevated  into 
the  dominant  characteristics  of  intelligent  person- 
ality. That  is,  the  kingdoms  of  good  and  evil 
are  not  constituted  alone  in  the  nature  of  cosmic 
laws,  but  find  their  cause  in  Supreme  Intelligence, 
which  is  their  embodiment.  Hence  the  good  is- 
sues in  the  ideal  of  the  supreme  good  or  God; 
and  evil  finds  its  complete  expression  in  the  no- 
tion of  the  supreme  evil  or  devil. 

It  is  a  striking  thing  that  in  our  English  tongue 
the  very  word  "  God  "  was  formerly  the  word  for 
"  good,"  and  that  usage  has  only  added  an  addi- 
tional letter  in  our  present  word  to  distinguish 
the  two.  Although  the  former  word  has  become 
obsolete,  yet  how  significant  these  sources !  The 
Gospels  declare  that  "  God  is  love,"  and  with  equal 
reason  and  more  comprehensiveness  they  might 
have  declared  that  "  God  is  good."  This  is  the 
supremest  conception  of  God  we  have,  and  the  at- 
tribute upon  which  our  hearts  dwell  more  fondly 
than  any  other.  It  is  equally  significant  that  the 
word  "  evil "  comes  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Gothic  words  which  were  used  in  personifying  the 
"  devil,"  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  with 
the  addition  of  the  initial  letter  the  word  "  evil  " 
and  "  devil "  are  the  same.  The  devil  is  per- 
sonified evil ;  God  is  personified  good.  The  possi- 
ble antitheses  of  the  moral  nature  are  thus  uni- 


156  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

versalized  and  hypostatized  into  deities.  That 
is,  just  as  the  ideal  of  the  intellectual  nature  is- 
sues in  the  postulate  of  the  all-wise  God,  and  the 
ideal  of  the  emotional  nature  is  embodied  in  the 
notion  that  God  is  love,  so  likewise  the  ideal  of  the 
moral  nature  finds  its  expression  in  the  conception 
that  God  is  good.  In  similar  manner  the  anti- 
thetical ideals  of  the  mind  issue  in  the  various  at- 
tributes of  the  devil. 

Furthermore,  in  relation  to  the  final  outcome 
of  the  moral  struggle,  the  mind  of  man  has  sought 
to  present  a  tangible  fruition  or  legitimate  con- 
summation, and  has  accordingly  constituted  a 
final  state  of  being  and  place  of  habitation  as  the 
infallible  requital  of  the  good  or  the  evil  life. 
Thus  the  conception  of  heaven,  in  which  golden 
streets,  gates  of  pearl,  and  every  precious  thing 
have  been  taken  merely  to  suggest  to  the  mind,  in 
marvelous  and  glorious  figures,  the  exalted  estate 
and  inexpressible  beatitude  of  him  who,  having 
chosen  righteousnesSj  has  run  with  patience  the 
race  set  before  him,  is  but  the  expression  of  the 
complete  integrity  of  the  moral  kingdom  and  the 
absolute  assurance  of  the  moral  law  which  vouch- 
safes triumphant  reward  to  the  redeemed  or  them 
that  have  loved  and  sought  the  good.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  set  before  us  also  the  notion  of 
an  inevitable  outcome  of  the  evil  will  and  action. 
It  is  certain,  in  the  nature  of  the  moral  demand, 
that  the  fruition  of  evil  cannot  be  the  same  as 
that  of  the  good,  but  in  its  own  persistent  way 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  157 

works  for  destruction  and  moral  death.  Accord- 
ingly the  valley  of  Gehenna,  in  which  the  dead  car- 
casses, offal  and  refuse  of  the  city  were  dumped 
and  burned  with  a  never-quenched  fire,  and  where 
there  were  weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of 
teeth,  as  the  expression  of  unspeakable  remorse 
and  misery,  becomes  the  symbolic  representation 
of  the  place  and  condition  of  those  who  choose 
unrighteousness  and  love  evil  instead  of  the  good. 
Hell  is  but  the  ideal  conception  of  the  ill  state  of 
being  and  the  habitation  of  the  damned.  In  this 
manner  has  mankind  set  before  the  mind  the  logical 
outcome  of  following  the  one  or  the  other  an- 
tithetical possibilit}'^  of  the  moral  nature.  These 
conceptions  have  in  all  times  challenged  the  utmost 
capacity  of  poetry  and  the  imagination.  The 
fondest  of  all  dreams  have  clustered  about  the 
home  of  the  soul.  The  despairing  heart  is  ever 
renewed  by  the  tender  words  of  the  Savior :  "  In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions ;  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you."  ^  St.  John,  in  his  ec- 
static rhapsodies,  walks  the  streets  of  the  blessed ; 
Milton,  in  poetical  sublimity,  ascends  into  heaven 
and  descends  into  hell ;  while  Dante  wanders  ever 
among  the  lights  and  shades.  Thus  the  good, 
which  man  finds  as  a  possibility  of  his  moral  na- 
ture, is  conceived  as  having  its  source  in  God  and 
as  being  consummated  in  heaven,  the  estate  of  all 
who  love  and  realize  the  good ;  while  evil  is  sup- 
posed, in  the  popular  thought,  to  have  its  source 
8  St.  John  14:2. 


158  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

in  the  devil,  and,  as  the  antithetical  possibility  of 
our  moral  nature,  finds  its  realization  in  hell,  the 
final  estate  of  all  that  love  and  serve  the  evil. 
These,  then,  express  the  extreme  potentialities  of 
the  moral  nature,  and  these  are  the  spheres  of  pos- 
sible moral  action. 

Whatever  may  be  said  about  the  physical  im- 
perfections of  life,  it  is  certain  that  moral  evil  is 
the  only  kind  that  affects  or  can  injure  the  soul. 
Moral  evil  is  the  only  mortal  evil.  Uberweg  de- 
clares: "Moral  evil  is  the  only  real  evil;  it  was 
necessary  in  view  of  human  freedom."  ^  But 
when  he  declares  that  moral  evil  is  necessary,  in 
view  of  human  freedom,  he  states  an  evident  con- 
tradiction ;  for  if  such  evil  be  necessary,  then  there 
is  no  human  freedom ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
there  be  such  human  freedom,  then  moral  evil  can- 
not be  a  necessity.  The  conceptions  are  mutually 
exclusive.  The  true  statement  is :  moral  evil  is 
not  a  necessity,  but  is  a  possibility ;  and  since  it 
is  a  possibility,  it  is  sure  to  be  a  probability. 
Christ  himself  in  this  relation  demonstrated  that 
moral  evil  is  not  a  necessity  in  connection  with 
freedom,  being  tempted  and  tried  in  all  things  like 
as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  In  this  regard  Christ 
typifies  perfected  humanity.  If  sin  were  neces- 
sary, it  would  thereby  not  be  sin.  Again,  as  we 
have  seen,  sin  is  only  the  free  and  wilfully  bad, 
and  can  in  no  sense  be  necessitated.  Sin  is  pos- 
eUberweg:    "Hist.  Phil.,"  Vol.  I,  p.  326  (Tr.  Morris). 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  159 

sible  or  thinkable  only  to  freedom.  But  because 
of  freedom,  it  is  all  the  more  certain  that  sin  will 
be  a  probability  universal  in  life.  This  comes 
from  the  fact  that  all  human  life  is  only  in  a 
formative  condition,  and  is  nowhere  perfected. 
There  is  none  perfect,  no  not  one.  "  If  we  say 
that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the 
truth  is  not  in  us."  ^^  And  yet  the  ideal  of  hu- 
man life,  as  shown  us  by  the  great  Master  of  life, 
is  perfection,  and  we  can  be  satisfied  with  nothing 
less  than  this.  In  the  wonderful  sermon  on  the 
mount  he  exhorts  us :  "  Be  ye  therefore  perfect, 
even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  per- 
fect." ^^  This  is  wonderful,  and  it  seems  incredi- 
ble ;  and  yet  when  we  remember  that  both  sin  and 
righteousness  are  matters  of  free  self-determina- 
tion, we  may  recognize  that  perfect  good-will  is 
possible  to  men.  And  since  perfect  knowledge  and 
wisdom  are  impossible  to  human  intelligences,  per- 
fect good-will  must  have  been  the  perfection  which 
Christ  had  in  mind.  Hence  it  is  written :  "  Love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  That  is,  the  law, 
which  commands  the  good-will,  is  fully  realized 
when  love  is  enthroned. 

Sin  is  only  the  being  or  doing  the  known  wrong, 
and  temptation  is  the  state  of  mind  which  is  dis- 
posed to  choose  the  known  evil  in  preference  to 
the   known    good.     As    Mr.    John    Morley    says : 

10  I  John  1 :  8. 

11  St.  Matt.  5,  48. 


160  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

"  The  force  of  a  temptation  is  not  from  without 
but  within."  ^^  Temptation  is  a  state  of  mental 
conflict  between  the  good  and  evil.  Hence  to  be 
tempted  is  not  sin.  While  Christ  was  in  the  wil- 
derness and  alone  he  apparently  was  tempted  to 
abandon  the  call  of  God  to  his  high  destiny  for 
the  pursuit  of  a  worldly  and  selfish  ambition  and 
gratification.  To  him  this  was  an  inner  experi- 
ence, but  in  literature  it  naturally  takes  on  the 
objective  form  in  which  we  have  it. 

To  appreciate  the  real  meaning  of  the  "  Temp- 
tation "  we  must  interpret  it  in  terms  of  possible 
human  experience.  Accordingly  Christ  must  be 
thought  to  have  possessed  a  moral  nature,  poten- 
tial of  both  good  and  evil,  and  therefore,  like  St. 
Paul,  was  capable  of  having  preached  to  others 
and  himself  become  a  castaway.  He  found  need 
in  the  hour  of  trial  to  call  upon  God.  How  often 
we  leam  of  his  going  apart  to  pray.  Tempted 
and  tried  as  we  all  are,  he  needed  the  help  of  di- 
vine grace  to  save  him  from  falling  away  from  the 
mark  of  his  high  calling. 

The  marvelous  thing,  however,  is  that  Christ 
was  "  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet 
without  sin."  ^^  To  all  his  detractors  his  chal- 
lenge was :  "  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of 
sin?"^^  Capable  of  being  tempted,  yet  he  was 
able  freely  to  remain  steadfast  in  resistance.     Not 

12  Rousseau,  vol.  I,  ch.  7,  p.  262  (C.  &  H.,  '73). 
isHeb.  4:15. 
14  St.  John  8:46. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  161 

to  be  free  from  temptation,  but  to  be  able  to 
freely  withstand  temptation  is  the  morally  sub- 
lime. In  his  General  Epistle,  St.  James  declares : 
"  Let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted 
of  God ;  for  God  can  not  be  tempted  with 
evil,  neither  tempteth  He  any  man ;  but  every  man 
is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his  own  lust, 
and  enticed."  ^^  Now  if  we  accept  these  words 
literally,  the  fact  is  conclusive  that  God  did  not 
lead  Christ  into  the  wilderness  for  the  specific  pur- 
pose of  temptation,  for  "  God  tempts  no  man," 
nor  causes  him  to  be  so  tempted.  But  we  may 
say  that  Christ  was  led  apart  by  his  own  desire ; 
and,  as  proving  ourselves  is  the  only  way  to  moral 
power,  he  yielded  himself  to  this  law  of  discipline. 

But  if  God  tempts  no  man,  our  minds  at  once  are 
led  to  ask  why,  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  Christ 
teaches  us  to  say :  "  Lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion." That  God  would  lead  men  into  temptation 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  them  away  from  the 
paths  of  rectitude  would  be  abhorrent.  But  that 
He  would  seek  to  discipline  men  in  order  to  raise 
them  to  moral  worth  is  not  only  in  harmony  with 
our  best  conception  of  God,  but  is  also  in  accord 
with  universal  experience.  But  if  this  view  pre- 
vails, then  why  should  we  be  taught  to  pray  for  de- 
liverance from  the  only  way  open  for  our  moral 
growth  and  perfection?  The  dilemma  is  striking. 
It  is  probable  that  Christ  only  meant  to  give  ex- 
pression to  the  simple  human  desire  for  the  pre- 

15  St.  James  1 :  13. 


162  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ventive  help  of  God,  which  is  a  universal  longing. 
At  least  it  is  a  perfectly  natural  and  instinctive 
form  of  prayer.  The  complete  idea  finds  no  bet- 
ter presentation,  perhaps,  than  in  St.  Paul's  let- 
ter to  the  Corinthians,  when  he  writes :  "  God  is 
faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted 
above  that  ye  are  able;  but  will  with  the  tempta- 
tion also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  bear  it."  ^^ 

When  St.  James  declares  that  "  God  can 
not  be  tempted  of  evil,"  this  can  not  mean  that 
God  does  not  possess  the  moral  nature  and  so  the 
power  of  doing  good  or  evil,  for  less  than  this 
would  destroy  His  omnipotence.  God  cannot  be 
tempted,  not  because  of  some  impossibility  of  His 
nature,  but  because  of  the  perfection  of  His  na- 
ture. But  because  God  has  the  power  to  do  evil, 
it  does  not  follow  that  He  will  do  it.  Divinity 
consists  in  this :  having  ability  to  do  good  or  evil, 
there  is  always  the  supreme  will  to  do  good.  God 
can  be  thought  of  at  all  only  as  possessing  intel- 
lectual and  moral  nature,  and  in  infinite  perfec- 
tion. Accordingly  His  attitude  toward  sin  and 
evil  cannot  but  be  one  of  disapproval,  with  like 
content  to  that  of  our  own  thought. 

The  good,  then,  is  the  high  goal  of  the  moral 
life  which  can  be  reached  only  by  gradual  growth ; 
and  this  can  be  wrought  out  only  through  trial 
and  rejection.  Temptation  is  the  battle-field  of 
the  soul.  Men  are  made  perfect  only  through 
16  1  Cor.  10:13. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  163 

suffering.  Christ,  like  all  men,  came  to  self-reali- 
zation in  this  manner.  Temptation,  therefore, 
serves  the  highest  of  all  human  ends  —  the  moral- 
ization  of  life.  This  is  a  wonderful  philosophy. 
In  this  spirit  St.  James  exhorts :  "  Count  it  all 
joy  when  you  fall  into  divers  temptations;  know- 
ing this,  that  the  trying  of  your  faith  worketh 
patience.  But  let  patience  have  her  perfect  work, 
that  you  may  be  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  noth- 
ing. .  .  .  Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temp- 
tation ;  for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the 
crown  of  life  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to 
them  that  love  Him."  ^^ 
17  St.  James  1:2-4  and  12. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  DEVIL 


"  Which  way  shall  I  fly, 
Infinite  wrath,  and  infinite  despair? 
Which  way  I  fly  is  hell;  myself  am  hell; 
And,  in  the  lowest  deep,  a  lower  deep. 
Still  threat'ning  to  devour  me,  opens  wide. 
To  which  the  hell  I  suff'er  seems  a  heaven." 

Milton. 
"  Of  the  devil." 

St.  Matthew  4:  1. 

"  Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity, 
Which,  like  the  toad,  ugly  and  venomous. 
Wears  yet  a  precious  jewel  in  his  head; 
And  this  our  life,  exempt  from  public  haunt. 
Finds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  running  brooks, 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything." 

Shakespeare. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  DEVIL 

In  the  "  devil  "  we  have  before  us  a  conception 
which  is  familiar,  but  which  is  popularly  very  lit- 
tle understood.  We  have  seen  that  in  the  spon- 
taneous thinking  of  the  race,  evil  in  general  has 
been  personified.  The  devil  is  the  personification 
of  evil.  This  mental  disposition  on  the  part  of 
man  to  objectify  and  personify  the  chief  implica- 
tions of  his  beliefs,  which  grow  out  of  his  imme- 
diate experience,  has  its  ground  in  the  fact  that 
we  instinctively  seek  to  establish  causes  for  what- 
ever effects  are  observed  by  us.  Our  most  imme- 
diate, and  in  last  analysis  our  only  knowledge  of 
causes  is  found  in  the  activities  of  conscious  will 
as  manifest  in  man  himself.  And  since  conscious 
spirit  or  personal  volition  were  the  only  real 
causes  of  which  he  had  knowledge,  it  was  but  nat- 
ural for  the  unsophisticated  man  to  hypostatize 
even  the  abstractions  of  his  mind  into  real  agen- 
cies. This  tendency  has  prevailed  in  all  ages. 
The  whole  pantheon  of  Greek  and  Roman  deities 
with  which  we  are  familiar,  as  well  as  those  of  all 
peoples,  were  created  in  this  manner. 

We  may  also  observe  that  the  principle  of  per- 

167 


168  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

sonification  is  often  used  as  a  purely  literary  de- 
vice for  the  purpose  of  vivifying  the  subject-mat- 
ter and  lending  it  pictorial  or  artistic  effect.  This 
is  done,  however,  with  the  conscious  understand- 
ing that  it  is  no  more  than  an  implement  of  lan- 
guage and  the  imagination,  and  that  there  is  no 
reality  corresponding  to  it.  Such,  for  example, 
is  Shakespeare's  reference  to  Queen  Mab,  Titania, 
Puck  and  other  fairies.  In  modern  usage,  refer- 
ence is  now  and  again  made  to  the  mythological 
creations  of  the  past  which  have  become  embodi- 
ments of  familiar  thoughts  for  the  purpose  of  il- 
luminating the  discourse  with  classic  allusion 
and  poetic  effect.  The  most  delightful  charm 
may  in  this  manner  be  given  the  theme,  but  they 
may  never  be  taken  for  literal  fact.  Language 
and  thought  are  full  of  poetry  and  symbol,  and 
so  thoroughly  have  they  gained  currency,  our 
most  prosaic  forms  of  expression  are  not  without 
them. 

But  the  personification  of  evil,  which  has  found 
expression  among  every  people  in  the  world  and  is 
as  ancient  as  the  race  itself,  is  no  mere  figure 
of  speech  or  poetic  representation,  but  assumes 
the  absolute  reality  of  the  devil.  He  is  the  very 
god  of  evil.  In  the  time  of  Christ  this  popular 
notion  maintained  among  all  the  people,  and  even 
unto  this  day  uncritical  thought  holds  to  the  real 
existence  of  the  devil.  It  is  evident,  also,  that 
the  authors  of  the  Gospels  wrote  in  the  spirit  of 
the  age  in  which  they  lived,  and  that  they  assumed 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  169 

the  validity  of  the  current  notion  concerning  the 
devil,  or  at  least  presented  the  literary  form  of 
the  Gospels  in  this  spirit.  Whatever  else  may 
be  said,  they  have  used  and  given  sanction  to  the 
folk-lore  conception  of  the  matter  which  prevailed 
then,  and  which  has  been  a  form  of  belief  in  all 
ages  and  among  all  peoples.  It  may,  in  fact,  be 
questioned  whether  the  Gospels  could  have  been 
written  in  that  age  in  any  other  form,  and  it  is 
certain  they  could  not  have  been  framed  other- 
wise and  been  effective  in  meaning  to  the  people 
to  whom  they  were  addressed.  Even  Christ  him- 
self used  the  language  of  the  people,  and  appar- 
ently had  respect  unto  the  presuppositions  in  their 
minds.  It  is  indeed  a  principle  of  effective  ped- 
agogy that  all  new  knowledge  must  be  correlated 
to  the  old,  all  higher  truth  adjusted  to  the  pre- 
suppositions of  the  mind  as  it  is.  Instruction 
could  never  begin  effectually  in  any  other  way. 
Christ  could  not  recast  the  minds  of  the  people, 
but  accepting  them  as  he  found  them,  he  proceeded 
to  enlighten  them,  relying  on  the  truth  itself  to 
dispel  the  darkness.  And  this  is  true  to  life,  for 
in  the  end  education  is  not  an  outer  process  but 
an  inner  development. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  in  all  religious  litera- 
ture and  tradition,  both  pagan  and  Christian, 
the  devil  is  the  most  mystical  of  personages. 
Nevertheless,  in  popular  fancy  there  is  no  more 
accredited  religious  character.  In  all  ages  he 
has  ruled  with  a  sovereignty  born  of  fear.     In  pa- 


170  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

gan  thought,  every  evil  passion,  every  physical 
and  moral  ill,  is  supposed  to  be  caused  by  some 
devil  to  whom  propitiatory  sacrifices  are  continu- 
ally made.  This  notion  finds  its  counterpart  in 
Christian  thought  in  the  popular  belief  that  all 
temptation  is  of  the  devil,  and  that  many  foiTns  of 
human  ills  are  caused  directly  by  him.  There  has, 
in  fact,  always  been  a  deep-seated  belief  in  spirit- 
ual agencies,  particularly  of  a  diabolical  char- 
acter. During  the  Middle  Ages  and  onwards, 
until  near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
in  the  popular  faith,  the  devil  and  his  kingdom 
possessed  the  vividness,  certainty  and  influence  of 
absolute  and  tangible  reality.  Dante's  "  Infer- 
no "  and  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost "  are  the 
classics  which  stand  at  the  beginning  and  the 
close  of  this  period.  But  in  a  less  definite  form 
the  same  notions  have  prevailed  unto  the  present. 
It  is  indeed  probable  that  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  civ- 
ilization, the  conception  of  the  devil  which  main- 
tains has  been  more  derived  from  Milton's  great 
epic  than  from  the  Bible  itself. 

Strangely  enough,  the  Bible  gives  us  no  account 
of  the  origin,  biography,  or  personality  of  the 
devil.  It  seems  quite  remarkable  thus,  if  the  devil 
be  a  real  personage  who  is  to  be  so  greatly  feared, 
that  the  sacred  writings  give  us  no  intelligent, 
consecutive  and  authentic  account  of  him.  As 
the  exalted  archenemy  of  God,  it  would  seem  but 
natural  to  expect  some  definite  information.  But 
however  natural  our  expectation,  we  are  doomed 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  171 

to  disappointment.  The  devil  appears  in  biblical 
story  only  like  a  wandering  star,  a  phantom 
spirit,  now  bursting  in  on  our  horizon,  then  as 
mysteriously  vanishing  again.  It  all  seems  weird 
and  magical.  Irresistibly  there  is  the  impression 
of  unreality  about  it  all.  But  notwithstanding 
this  suggestion  of  doubt,  the  devil  maintains  due 
popular  respect.  Sometimes,  indeed,  he  is  re- 
ferred to  in  a  facetious  manner  and  with  sarcastic 
raillery,  which  shows  a  flippant  disregard  or  se- 
cret disloyalty ;  yet  for  the  larger  part  his  scep- 
ter continues  to  bear  rule  in  the  earth.  No  surer 
evidence  of  this  is  needed  than  in  the  case  of  cer- 
tain religionists  who,  when  the  devil  is  assailed  in 
any  way,  rush  to  his  defense  as  if  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  itself  were  about  to  be  lost.  This  un- 
seemly zeal,  of  course,  unavoidably  suggests  the 
possibility  of  their  having  an  interest  at  stake 
and  that,  if  the  devil  should  happen  to  be  ban- 
ished, their  profession  might  be  endangered.  It 
is  a  peculiar  psychological  law  of  the  egotist  that 
he  attempts  to  conceive  the  whole  world  to  be  as 
bad  as  possible  to  begin  with,  so  that  it  may  ap- 
pear as  good  as  possible,  by  way  of  contrast, 
when  he  is  through  reforming  it. 

But  it  is  well  to  remember  that  our  religious 
conceptions,  like  all  others,  are  not  reasoned  con- 
victions to  begin  with,  but  are  purely  traditional 
and  hearsay.  We  are  not  led  into  the  religious 
life  and  profession  by  logical  evidence  and  philo- 
sophic investigation,  but  primarily  from  the  in- 


172  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

stinctive  yearnings  for  God  and  the  promptings 
of  righteousness  in  our  hearts.  The  current  of 
life  is  stronger  than  all  theory,  and  we  may  in- 
stinctively be  led  in  the  right  direction  even  be- 
fore we  possess  correct  knowledge.  With  most 
of  us,  however,  popular  traditions  are  never  cor- 
rected by  reflection.  From  this  fact  the  high  im- 
portance of  valid  instruction  is  evident.  Fiction 
and  poetry  must  give  way  to  reality  and  philoso- 
phy in  this  field ;  figures  of  speech  may  adorn  ex- 
pression, but  must  not  be  taken  for  literal  fact. 
We  are,  therefore,  under  moral  obligation  to  make 
thorough  investigation  into  our  beliefs  and  to 
seek  rational  foundations  for  them,  even  if  our 
critical  examination  leads  us  to  the  necessity 
of  rejecting  traditional  faiths.  Less  than  this 
would  be  outright  dishonesty. 

Spontaneous  thought  has  conceived  the  devil  as 
being  a  co-divinity  with  God  the  Father.  He  is 
thought  of  as  omnipresent  and  all  but  omnipo- 
tent. Thus  he  is  represented,  in  symbolic  phrase, 
as  going  about  like  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom 
he  may  devour.  ^  This  must  be  so  construed  that 
the  devil  may  be  present  to  tempt  all  men  in  all 
places  at  one  and  the  same  time.  He  is  likewise 
declared  to  be  "  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air,"  ^ —  that  is,  a  universal  diabolical  spirit.  In 
popular  thought  he  has  been  given  the  quali- 
ties of  absolute  being  and  power.     If  the  devil  be 

il  Peter  5:8. 
2Eph.  2:2. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  173 

thought  of  as  possessing  the  one  absolute  quality 
of  omnipresence,  then  this  necessarily  implies  ab- 
soluteness in  all  his  attributes.  The  devil  has 
thus  been  elevated  unto  the  dignity  of  a  real  god. 
Ancient  thought  so  conceived  him,  and  this  has 
found  an  echo  in  traditional  thinking  down  to  the 
present.  The  devil  is  the  god  of  evil;  God  the 
Father  is  the  God  of  the  good. 

These  antithetical  conceptions  have  grown  out 
of  the  implications  of  the  moral  nature  of  man. 
Good  and  evil  are  the  very  essence  of  our  moral 
being,  and  the  potentiality  of  both  are  inherent  in 
our  every  moral  function.  The  moral  nature  can 
not  exist  without  the  possibility  of  both.  Every 
action  or  state  of  being  is  accordingly  fraught 
with  moral  significance.  By  the  moral  constitu- 
tion of  our  lives,  neither  good  nor  evil  are  necessi- 
tated, but  both  alike  are  freely  determined  and 
chosen.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  morality  apart 
from  intelligent  and  volitional  freedom.  It  is  out 
of  the  deepest  experiences  of  the  moral  nature, 
then,  that  man  has  constituted  his  conceptions  of 
deity.  That  is,  man  has  personified  and  objecti- 
fied his  own  inner  ideas  and  hypostatized  them 
into  gods.  His  gods  accordingly  are  anthropo- 
morphic, endowed  with  all  human  qualities  and 
attributes.  So  universal  is  this  fact,  there  has 
not  been  a  religion  nor  is  there  one  that  is  free 
from  it.  Nor  indeed  can  it  be  otherwise,  for  if 
man  will  have  thought  of  God  it  must  needs  be 
that  he  think  in  terms  of  human  understanding, 


174  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

and  thus  God  becomes  to  man  a  product  of  his 
own  thought.  And  the  difference  in  religions  is 
only  in  the  rationality  of  their  tenets. 

As  religious  conceptions  are  largely  an  out- 
growth of  the  moral  nature,  it  follows  that  moral- 
ity has  always  been  immediately  connected  with 
religion.  Moral  treatises  which  occur  in  Egypt 
at  a  very  remote  period  appeal  to  the  deity  in  or- 
der to  enforce  their  precepts.  In  Babylon,  also, 
before  religion  had  high  development,  the  people 
in  violating  the  moral  law  felt  that  they  were 
guilty  before  God.  In  fact,  that  most  beautiful 
of  all  ancient  poems,  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve 
in  the  garden  of  Eden,  is  but  a  pictorial  represen- 
tation of  the  unfolding  moral  nature,  of  the  awak- 
ening to  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  of  sin  and 
guilt,  of  a  fearful  conscience  before  God,  and  of 
banishment  from  the  paradise  of  righteousness 
and  peace.  And  the  whole  story  of  redemption 
is  but  the  manifold  history  of  the  expedients 
and  endeavor  of  man  to  square  himself  with  the 
law  or  will  of  God,  which  is  only  the  law  of  right- 
eousness written  in  his  own  heart  and  mind.  This 
is  the  reason  that  the  enlightened  conscience  has 
been  called  the  voice  of  God.  Furthermore,  the 
implication  is  that  God  is  on  the  side  of  the  good 
and  the  right,  and  that  He  will  execute  judgment 
in  the  earth.  The  well-doer  shall  fare  well,  and 
the  evil-doer  shall  fare  ill.  Whatsoever  a  man 
soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap. 

It  is  clear  now  that  the  moral  nature  sets  before 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  175 

us  two  antithetical  kingdoms :  the  one,  the  king- 
dom of  righteousness,  of  love,  of  God  and  of 
heaven ;  the  other,  the  kingdom  of  sin,  of  hate,  of 
the  devil  and  hell.  From  these  implications  of 
the  moral  life,  the  whole  kingdom  of  evil  is  thought 
of  as  being  presided  over  by  the  devil.  He  is  the 
author  of  all  the  false,  the  ugly  and  the  bad  in  the 
world,  just  as  God  is  the  source  of  all  the  true, 
the  beautiful  and  the  good.  The  moral  world  is 
divided  into  two  hemispheres,  the  good  and  the 
evil,  which  respectively  belong  to  God  and  the 
devil.  God  is  the  personified  good ;  the  devil  is 
personified  evil.  So  overpowering  has  been  the  in- 
fluence of  this  conception  that  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  more  .have  not  sought  the  good 
from  fear  of  the  devil  than  from  the  love  of  God. 
It  is  even  now  hinted  at  times  that  a  more  gener- 
ous preaching  of  the  terrors  of  the  law  might  be 
more  efficacious  than  that  of  love  and  mercy. 

Growing  out  of  this  fundamental  antithesis  of 
the  moral  nature,  various  philosophies  and  theol- 
ogies have  been  constructed  with  a  basal  dualism 
in  the  absolute  being  or  world-ground.  This  is 
but  what  might  have  been  expected  in  the  history 
of  thought.  The  good  and  evil  are  set  over 
against  each  other  in  endless  opposition.  God 
and  the  devil  are  both  conceived  as  absolute  and 
independent  and  in  perpetual  warfare  against  one 
another.  Thus,  for  example,  in  the  Parsee  re- 
ligion two  spirits,  a  benevolent  and  a  malevolent, 
are   set   in   antagonism.     This   view   is   found,   in 


176  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

modified  forms,  in  various  religions.  There  was 
a  fundamental  duality  in  Plato's  entire  system  of 
thought.  From  the  third  to  the  seventh  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era,  Manicheism,  which  was 
apparently  an  effort  to  incorporate  into  the 
Christian  system  some  features  of  the  Persian 
and  Gnostic  philosophies,  taught  the  doctrine  that 
man's  body  is  the  work  of  the  devil,  and  that 
the  soul,  as  partaking  of  the  substance  of  God, 
was  engaged  in  an  eternal  war  with  it.  Hence 
they  advocated  the  crucifixion  of  the  flesh  and 
abuse  of  the  body,  mortifying  it  on  principle.  In 
fact,  St.  Paul  himself  conceives  the  body  and 
spirit  to  be  at  war  with  one  another ;  an  idea  which 
he  apparently  adopted  from  the  Greek  philoso- 
phy. But  in  uncritical  thinking,  even  up  to  the 
present,  the  devil  assumes  the  role  of  a  real  god, 
absolute  and  independent  of  God  the  Father,  and 
battling  with  Him  forever  over  the  souls  of  men. 
On  reflection,  however,  this  view  is  found  to  be 
contradictory  to  sound  metaphysical  demands  and 
has  no  rational  warrant  whatever.  It  introduces 
a  duality  into  the  world-ground,  which  is  abso- 
lutely contradictory  to  first  principles,  and  is  ac- 
cordingly inadmissible.  Concerning  the  nature 
of  the  infinite,  we  can  not  know  fully,  but  if  there 
be  any  tenet  on  which  critical  thought  is  unani- 
mous it  is  that  the  basal  reality  must  be  one.  All 
thinkers,  both  ancient  and  modern,  have  agreed  in 
rejecting  a  fundamental  pluralism  in  favor  of  a 
basal  monism.     From  every  viewpoint  monism  is 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  177 

the  deepest  demand  of  reason.  This  is  best  seen, 
first,  in  the  postulates  of  objective  cognition. 
Here  our  conception  is  that  the  world  of  things 
forms  a  system  so  that  every  element  in  it  is  re- 
lated to  every  other  in  a  harmonious  and  all-em- 
bracing adjustment.  Law  and  uniformity  in 
phenomena  imply  the  universal  adjustment  of  ev- 
erything to  every  other  thing.  This  requires 
that  for  a  given  state  in  any  one  thing  there  must 
be  only  a  given  state  in  all  others.  Concrete  ex- 
amples of  this  requisition  are  found  in  the  laws 
of  chemical  affinity  and  of  gravitation.  This  ap- 
plies in  all  the  relations  of  experience.  It  is, 
therefore,  the  supreme  presupposition  of  all  or- 
ganized knowledge  that  the  world-system  is  one. 
Everything  in  the  system,  then,  must  be  where  it 
is  and  as  it  is  because  of  its  relation  to  and  de- 
pendence upon  the  whole. 

Fundamentally  this  all-inclusive  system  is  not 
given  in  experience,  but  is  an  implication  of  the 
unitary  nature  of  reason  itself.  In  fact,  we  find 
a  manifold  and  pluralistic  world  of  things  in  sense 
experience,  but  their  interaction  and  mutual  rela- 
tion, which  may  be  observed,  logically  demand 
some  dynamic  mediation  among  things  whereby 
the  many  are  united  into  one  system.  Without 
some  co-ordinating  one,  the  universe  would  fall 
asunder  into  absolutely  unconnected  units,  which 
would  be  out  of  all  relations  of  causation  what- 
ever, and  interaction  be  made  impossible.  But 
the  world  would  be  utterly  unintelligible  unless  it 


178  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

admitted  of  being  brought  under  a  system  of 
things  interacting  according  to  law.  This  is  the 
ideal  of  cognition  and  finds  its  exemplification  in 
the  empirical  realm  in  the  mathematical  exactness 
of  its  laws  and  relations.  But  interaction,  the 
reciprocal  and  concomitant  changes  in  things, 
can  not  find  explanation  in  the  independent  things 
alone,  but  only  in  the  immanent  activity  of  a 
higher  reality  which  is  the  ground  of  the  exist- 
ence of  all  things  and  the  cause  of  their  harmoni- 
ous co-ordination.  In  this  manner  the  interac- 
tion among  the  many  is  found  to  be  possible  only 
as  the  immanent  activity  of  the  One.  The  One 
posits  and  maintains  all  the  interacting  members 
in  their  mutual  relation.  This  One  is  the  only 
truly  self-existent,  and  all  besides  depends  upon 
it  for  whatever  of  existence  they  may  have.  In- 
teraction of  the  many  is  possible  only  through  the 
immanent  activity  of  the  Absolute  One.  This  view 
alone  can  satisfy  the  mind's  demand  for  ultimate 
unity  in  the  world-ground,  and  remove  the  con- 
tradiction which  lies  in  the  assumption  of  inter- 
action between  wholly  independent  things.  Of  the 
nature  of  God,  therefore,  we  know  that  He  is  One, 
and  similarly  valid  reasoning  would  compel  us  to 
regard  Him  as  active,  intelligent  and  personal. 
God  only  can  be  absolute  and  infinite,  omnipresent 
and  omnipotent.  Hence  the  religious  concep- 
tions, which  posit  God  as  the  good  in  endless  war- 
fare with  the  devil  as  the  embodiment  of  evil,  are 
pure  mythology.     There  can  be  but  one  unitary 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  179 

God  or  infinite  being.  Monotheism  alone  is  philo- 
sophically tenable. 

Granting  now  the  validity  of  our  metaphysical 
conclusions  that  the  absolute  being  must  be  One, 
and  this  One,  by  the  implications  of  our  thought, 
must  be  God  the  Father,  it  follows  that  if  there 
be  a  devil  he  must  be  finite,  and  therefore  created, 
like  all  other  relative  beings.  But  to  assume  the 
creation  of  the  devil  must  imply  that  God  created 
him,  and  this  would  impeach  the  moral  integrity 
of  God  and  annihilate  His  character  of  righteous- 
ness. What  God  makes  is  good.  God  never  cre- 
ated a  devil.  If  there  be  a  devil,  it  follows  that 
he  was  not  such  by  creation,  but  from  being  cre- 
ated good  he  became  a  devil  by  his  own  free  deter- 
mination. This  would  mean  simply  that  the  devil 
was  created  with  moral  freedom, —  that  is,  the 
potentiality  for  both  good  and  bad,  the  same  as  all 
other  intelligences.  The  devil  must  have  become 
a  devil  by  virtue  of  his  own  free  will.  Less  than 
this  conclusion  would  require  the  positing  of  a 
fundamental  evil  in  the  nature  of  God  Himself, 
which  would  be  self-destructive.  Any  system  that 
posits  evil  as  a  necessity  in  the  world-ground  is 
suicidal. 

Now  since  the  devil  is  not  absolute  but  only  a 
relative  creature  at  best,  he  therefore  is  limited 
and  finite.  And  as  finite,  he  is  just  as  limited  and 
local  as  any  other  creature  whatever.  He  must 
then  necessarily  be  limited  in  both  space  and  time. 
Hence  he  can  be  present  at  any  one  place  only  at 


180  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

one  time,  and  therefore,  while  operating  in  any  one 
place  or  laboring  with  any  one  person,  he  can  be 
nowhere  else.  But  since  there  are  some  millions 
of  human  beings  in  the  world,  it  would  seem  that 
the  vast  majority  of  them  might  rest  secure  from 
the  fear  of  ever  being  tempted  or  tried  by  the 
devil.  In  fact,  there  seems  to  be  no  escape  from 
this  conclusion.  The  notion  of  a  universal  dia- 
bolic spirit,  therefore,  must  be  abandoned.  If  it 
be  held  that  this  is  a  grave  divergence  from  tra- 
ditional belief,  the  answer  must  be  that  if  such 
belief  be  not  well  founded  it  must  be  given  over. 
Furthermore,  it  must  always  be  remembered  that 
the  devil,  conceived  as  a  universal,  personal  evil 
spirit,  is  only  a  speculative  postulate  of  the  human 
mind,  and  if  it  be  found  wanting  in  rational 
grounds  it  can  have  no  intelligent  standing.  In 
practical  experience,  likewise,  we  must  remember 
that,  apart  from  certain  over-vivid  imaginations, 
we  have  no  knowledge  of  such  devil.  If  a  man  say 
that  the  devil  told  him  to  do  thus  and  so,  we  al- 
ways understand  this  to  be  no  more  than  the  pic- 
torial language  with  which  he  gives  expression 
to  his  own  subjective  struggle  with  temptation. 
Never  do  we  think  of  the  devil  actually  counseling 
with  him.     It  is  poetry,  not  reality. 

Perhaps,  however,  this  will  not  be  final  with  some 
minds.  It  may  be  contended  that  we  have  as 
much  knowledge  of  a  diabolic  spirit  communing 
with  us  as  we  have  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  do- 
ing so.     The  answer  must  be  that  this  would  be 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  181 

true  in  so  far  as  a  mere  introspection  of  conscience 
reveals  either;  for  conscience  testifies  to  guilt  and 
moral  self-condemnation,  as  well  as  to  righteous- 
ness and  self-approval.  But  the  solution  does 
not  rest  alone  in  introspection,  but  must  likewise 
take  into  account  the  world-conception  which  finds 
its  expression  in  the  metaphysics  of  the  basal  re- 
ality. This,  as  we  have  already  determined, 
makes  possible  only  one  infinite  and  ubiquitous 
spirit,  and  this,  from  the  fundamental  moral  ne- 
cessity of  the  world-system,  must  be  a  righteous 
and  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  written :  "  The  Spirit  it- 
self beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are 
the  children  of  God."  ^  This  means  that  the  con- 
sciousness of  moral  self-approval,  the  conscience 
void  of  offense,  is  the  true  witness  of  our  moral 
good  standing  before  the  righteousness  of  God, 
and  that  our  spirits  are  in  accord  with  God's 
Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  norm  of  right- 
eousness which  witnesses  to  our  spiritual  accept- 
ability. And  this  is  literally  true,  for  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  always  that  there  is,  and  can  be,  no 
other  omnipresent  Spirit,  which  is  immanent  in 
the  whole  world  and  capable  of  such  universal 
function. 

Turning  to  the  specific  Christian  literature,  we 
may  observe  that  the  reason  for  the  prevailing 
notion  of  the  devil  is  traditional  rather  than  re- 
flective. Uncritical  thinking  has  been  led  by  its 
native  instinct  to  find  expression  in  pictures  of  the 
3  Kom.  8:16. 


182  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

imagination.  Evil  has  been  generalized  and  the 
devil  is  a  sort  of  fallacy  of  the  universal.  The 
undisciplined  mind  is  incapable  of  rational  inter- 
pretation and  logical  thinking,  and  is  accordingly 
subject  to  all  manner  of  vanities.  And  there  is 
no  more  fruitful  field  of  error  than  the  religious. 
But  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  all  reason- 
able excuse  for  popular  thought  in  going  astray 
in  its  notion  of  the  devil,  for  there  is  lack  of  clear 
and  unmistakable  presentation  of  him.  Although 
the  Bible  gives  sanction  and  usage  to  the  notion, 
yet  it  itself  is  quite  mystical  and  uncertain  in  its 
doctrine.  The  term  is  used  in  a  singularly  indefi- 
nite way.  It  is  true  that  in  the  original  Greek  a 
distinction  is  made  between  the  devil  and  demons, 
and  yet  they  are  all  simply  evil  spirits.  Further- 
more, the  very  term  for  devil  is  applied  in  various 
relations  with  evidently  different  meanings.  For 
example,  Christ  says :  "  Have  I  not  chosen  you 
twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  "  ^  Here  the 
term  is  used  in  the  sense  of  a  wicked  man  — 
treacherous  person.  He  also  said  unto  Peter, 
one  of  his  closest  disciples :  "  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan :  thou  art  an  offence  unto  me."  ^  Satan  is 
the  Hebrew  word,  equivalent  to  the  usual  Greek 
word,  which  we  translate  into  English  as  devil. 
The  meaning  evidently  is  that  Peter,  by  the  course 
of  evasion  which  he  suggested,  therein  manifested 
the  spirit  of  the  devil.     He  pointed  the  way  of 

4  St.  John  6:70. 

5  St.  Matt.  16:23. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  183 

hypocrisy  and  dishonesty.     He  embodied  the  very 
spirit  of  evil  and  therefore  was  called  the  devil. 

Furthermore,  the  popular  delusions  of  the  day 
are  fully  recognized  in  the  Gospels  and  other  lit- 
erature of  the  time  of  Christ.  The  presupposi- 
tion in  the  mind  of  the  simple  people,  and  prob- 
ably of  the  most  enlightened,  was  that  even  actual 
disease,  to  say  nothing  of  moral  evil,  was  caused 
by  demons  or  devils.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
pathology  and  the  science  of  medicine  were  at  that 
time  wholly  unknown.  All  diseases,  especially 
those  which  manifested  mental  derangement  or 
aberration,  were  supposed  to  be  due  to  evil  spirits. 
This  superstition  prevailed  down  even  to  the  mod- 
ern day  in  the  notion  of  witchcraft.  Since  disease 
was  caused  by  devils,  therefore  only  such  as  had 
power  over  them  or  were  able  to  cast  out  devils 
were  regarded  as  physicians.  Christ,  accord- 
ingly, was  called  the  "  great  physician,"  because 
of  his  power  in  casting  out  devils,  as  was  supposed, 
but  in  reality  because  of  his  power  to  heal  them 
of  their  diseases.  Psychotherapy  seems  to  have 
been  with  him  an  original  power.  Whosoever 
had  faith  in  him  and  the  truth  he  declared  came 
into  possession  of  a  new  life  which  supplanted  the 
very  conditions  of  their  ills.  This  is  particularly 
easy  to  understand  in  the  case  of  mental  disor- 
ders ;  for  the  spirit  can  be  cured  only  by  spiritual 
agencies  or  means.  We  have  already  seen  how 
much  is  being  done  in  our  own  day  in  this  regard. 
In  fact,  a  closer  study  of  pathologic  psychology 


184  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

is  destined  to  save  the  race  from  a  great  many  ills 
with  which  it  is  afflicted.  All  mental  aberrations 
are  now  being  treated  by  spiritual  administration, 
and  the  physical  and  medicinal  agencies  used  only 
as  bodily  helps.  In  the  time  of  Christ,  to  them 
that  had  faith  it  was  done  unto  them,  even  as 
they  would ;  but  where  there  was  no  faith,  even  he 
could  do  no  mighty  works.  This  suggests  the 
subjective  condition  required  for  healing  of  the 
soul.  We  are  just  coming  to  recognize  that  the 
science  of  spiritual  hygiene  is  just  as  important, 
if  not  more  so,  than  bodily  conditions  of  health. 
The  health  of  the  mind  depends  upon  its  spiritual 
atmosphere  or  environment  or  the  optimistic  atti- 
tude which  it  itself  sustains  toward  life.  They 
that  sow  unto  the  spirit,  of  the  spirit  reap  life 
everlasting. 

That  biblical  literature  naively  represents  even 
bodily  disease  as  caused  by  devils  must  be  patent 
to  all.  Yet  that  no  form  of  disease  is  caused  by 
devils  is  evident  to  every  enlightened  mind.  A 
great  body  of  diseases  are  of  bacterial  origin,  still 
others  from  a  natural  or  constitutional  necrosis ; 
complications  and  abridgment  of  function  come 
from  both  sources,  and  the  cause  and  nature  of 
others  have  as  yet  baffled  all  human  skill.  But 
notwithstanding  our  inability  to  diagnose  some 
human  ills,  no  one,  we  presume,  could  be  found 
with  the  temerity  to  assert  that  they  are  caused 
by  devils.  It  is  unquestionably  true  also  that 
such  recorded  miracles,  as,  for  example,  that  of 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATIpN  185 

the  man  with  an  unclean  spirit,  out  of  whom  were 
cast  a  legion  of  devils  which  entered  the  swine 
near  by  and  caused  them  to  rush  over  the  preci- 
pice into  the  sea,  must  be  regarded  as  pure  leg- 
end.^ We  may  admit  that  the  facts  were  that 
Christ  healed  a  poor  wild  and  insane  man,  and 
that  a  herd  of  swine  may  in  this  connection  have 
run  over  a  precipice  and  drowned  in  the  sea,  but 
we  are  compelled  to  reject  altogether  the  inter-* 
pretation  put  upon  it  by  the  thought  of  the  age 
which  created  the  record.  In  brief,  it  seems  clear 
that  no  one  could  dare  to  maintain  that  literal 
devils  inhabited  this  poor  man  and  passed  from 
him  into  the  swine.  The  man  was  doubtless  men- 
tally deranged,  and  by  some  event  not  recorded 
the  swine  suddenly  became  scared  and,  stampeding 
together,  were  over  the  precipice  before  they  real- 
ized it  was  there.  The  events  were  thus  connected 
by  the  thought  of  that  age,  and  although  the 
swine  may  have  been  in  some  other  part  of  the 
country  entirely,  yet  the  imaginative  mind,  with 
the  aid  of  superstition,  connected  the  two  occur- 
rences and  interpreted  them  accordingly.  We 
may  here  add  that  this  interpretation  on  the  part 
of  an  age  which  knew  nothing  else  in  no  way  de- 
tracts from  the  merit  of  the  great  and  benevolent 
work  of  Christ  in  healing  the  afflicted.  What 
could  not  be  otherwise  accounted  for  to  the  an- 
cient mind  was  explained  by  demons  or  occult  spir- 
its, both  good  and  evil.  Socrates  held  himself  to 
est.  Mark  5:1-17. 


186  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

be  guided  by  his  demon, —  that  is,  his  good  guard- 
ian angel.  On  the  other  hand,  men  were  supposed 
to  be  possessed  by  wicked  demons, —  that  is,  evil 
spirits.  That  individuals  are  good  or  evil  spirits 
is  intelligible,  but  that  good  or  evil  spirits,  exter- 
nal to  or  other  than  themselves,  can  enter  in  and 
possess  them  is  nothing  other  than  foolishness. 

How  Christ  may  have  been  able  to  effect  cures 
of  mental  ills  by  some  psychotherapeutic  method 
of  which  he  was  master  is  comprehensible,  but 
when  we  turn  to  the  actual  organic  derangement 
and  bodily  ills  the  case  seems  to  be  harder  to  our 
understanding.  We  have  already  pointed  out 
that  there  is  a  mutual  relation  between  mind  and 
body,  and  that  the  well-being  of  the  one  directly 
affects  the  other.  When  Christ  by  the  marvelous 
stimulus  that  he  was  accustomed  to  bring  to  the 
afflicted  overpowered  them  with  the  conception  of 
a  new  life,  the  reaction  itself  must  have  tended  to 
the  restoration  from  all  physical  debilities.  Of 
course,  we  have  no  real  diagnosis  of  the  cases  that 
came  under  his  treatment,  and  consequently  it  is 
impossible  for  any  one  to  judge  what  actually 
took  place.  As  an  example  of  healing  of  the  most 
extreme  character,  that  of  the  man  that  was  born 
blind,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Christ  spat  upon  the 
ground  and  made  clay  of  the  spittle  and  anointed 
the  eyes  of  him  that  was  born  blind,  and  com- 
manded him  to  go  and  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam."^ 
Now  it  may  well  be  that,  because  of  the  dense  ig- 
7  St.  John  9:1-7. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  187 

norance  of  the  people,  this  man  had  remained  blind 
from  his  birth  simply  because  of  the  lack  of  a  sim- 
ple but  absolutely  essential  treatment,  which  when 
given  restored  his  sight, —  not,  probably,  at  once, 
but  gradually.  That  the  poor  man  could  see  at 
all  was  by  way  of  contrast  a  profound  miracle  to 
him  and  to  all  that  had  known  him.  Science  in 
our  day,  however,  has  demonstrated  that  thou- 
ands  of  children  that  are  born  blind,  or  with  con- 
ditions that  result  in  post-natal  blindness,  may  be 
entirely  cured  by  simply  dropping  a  bit  of  weak 
solution  of  nitrate  of  silver  in  the  eyes.  It  was 
likewise  once  supposed  that  the  so-called  hip- 
disease  was  incurable,  but  it  has  recently  been 
demonstrated  by  specialists  in  this  field  that  the 
dislocation  may  be  entirely  overcome,  and  a  per- 
fectly normal  state  instituted.  Club  foot,  spinal 
curvature,  and,  in  short,  all  possible  bodily  de- 
formities have  been  successfully  treated  by  modern 
scientists.  Now  it  is  not  an  unwarranted  assump- 
tion that  Christ,  with  the  astounding  insight  and 
wisdom  which  he  evidently  possessed,  may  have 
availed  himself  of  a  certain  quality  in  the  clay 
known  to  him,  and  thereby  have  effected  a  cure. 
It  is  but  sensible  to  suppose  this,  for  the  records 
themselves  continually  call  to  our  attention  that 
Christ  availed  himself  of  both  the  physical  and 
spiritual  agencies  of  therapeutics.  It  is  not  our 
purpose  to  set  a  limit  to  his  power,  but  we  submit 
that,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  at  all  from  the  record 
of  his  actions,  Christ  did  not  work  by  magic,  and 


188  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

sought  in  every  way  he  could  to  disabuse  the  minds 
of  the  people  from  believing  in  their  persistent 
superstitions. 

A  further  observation  may  here  be  made, 
namely,  that  the  so-called  miracles  of  Christ  were 
never  done  except  for  legitimate  reasons.  Our 
aim  is  to  point  out  that  above  all  Christ  was  emi- 
nently rational.  He  therefore  did  nothing  with- 
out intelligent  purpose.  If  at  any  point  in  the 
record  it  should  seem  that  this  is  lacking,  it  is  a 
perfectly  warrantable  assumption  to  suppose  that 
the  record  itself  is  defective  in  presenting  the 
facts  in  the  case.  The  presuppositions  of  the 
mind  in  that  day  were  such  that  we  are  compelled 
to  constantly  go  back  of  the  letter  in  our  endeavor 
to  search  out  the  spirit  of  the  real  Christ.  It 
might  be  possible,  indeed,  if  the  facts  were  known, 
even  in  the  cases  of  those  raised  from  the  dead  or 
in  that  of  Christ's  own  resurrection,  that  we  might 
be  able  to  obtain  a  comprehensible  manner  of  their 
accomplishment.  We  submit  that,  in  view  of 
many  human  experiences  well-known  to  us,  there 
is  nothing  to  preclude  this  possibility.  It  is  not 
within  our  province  in  this  present  connection  to 
discuss  specific  miracles,  but  simply  to  point  out  a 
general  method  of  interpretation  which  the  facts 
indicate  or  even  compel.  Christ  did  not  work 
wonders  simply  for  the  sake  of  working  them,  but 
for  some  benevolent  and  didactic  purpose.  He 
did  not  come  into  the  world  to  heal  the  body  pri- 
marily, but  to  heal  the  soul.     He  came  not  to  save 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  189 

us  from  bodily  death,  but  from  the  eternal  spirit- 
ual death.  He  came  that  we  might  have  life  and 
have  it  more  abundantly. 

Hence  Christ  told  those  wham  he  healed  to  go 
and  tell  it  to  no  man.®  It  is  singular  to  find  that 
this  was  almost  his  invariable  injunction.  Why? 
Because  he  cared  not  to  have  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple directed  to  a  mere  benevolent  incident  in  his 
life,  which  like  a  mote  in  their  eye  seems  to  ob- 
scure their  vision  from  the  exalted  truth  of  his 
teaching,  and  so  thwart  his  whole  purpose.  It 
was  the  truth  which  alone  could  make  them  free, 
and  not  miracles  at  all.  It  seems  to  be  a  war- 
rantable conclusion  that  Christ  would  have  per- 
formed no  miracles  at  all  had  he  not  found 
it  expedient  as  a  pedagogical  agency.  The  pre- 
suppositions of  their  minds  required  wonders  to 
warrant  the  belief  that  any  one  had  power  from 
God.  This  whole  attitude  of  mind  rests  in  the  de- 
lusions of  sense  thinking.  Christ,  although  avail- 
ing himself  of  it  for  didactic  reasons,  yet  never 
allowed  its  claim.  "  An  evil  and  adulterous  gene- 
ration seeketh  after  a  sign;  and  there  shall  no 
sign  be  given  it."  ^  It  is  reasonable,  accordingly, 
to  believe  that  Christ  did  whatever  he  did  in  a 
natural  and  intelligible  manner,  and  that  the  lack 
of  understanding  of  the  agencies  used  made  the 
people  interpret  his  acts  as  miraculous.  What- 
ever is  not  understood  appears  wonderful  to  the 

8  St.   Mark  9:30. 

9  St.  Matt.  12:39. 


190  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

human  mind,  but  when  well  understood  it  appears 
simple  and  natural.     Even  when  we  are  familiar 
with  a   given  phenomenon  it  appears  to  be  well 
understood,  whereas  it  may  in  reality  be  as  mirac- 
ulous as  the  profoundest  recorded  miracle.     The 
facts  of  magnetism,  gravity  and  interaction,  and 
a   thouand   other   phenomena   with   which   we   are 
familiar,  are  no  longer  objects  of  our  curiosity, 
and  yet  they  are  as  incomprehensible  as  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead.     The  nature  of  all  final  and 
absolute  existence  is  in  its  own  inscrutable  right, 
and  its  being  is  not  a  matter  of  human  conprehen- 
sion.     Some  things  we.  know,  more  we  believe,  and 
most  of  all  are  in  the  realm  of  the  infinite  mystery. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  recall  the 
fact  that  nothing  is  impossible  with  God ;  and  yet 
we  reject  the  notion  that  this  possibility  can  be 
urged  as  an  argument  for  all  manner  of  magical 
and    irrational    miracles.     The    time    w^as    when 
miracles  were  regarded  as  the  surest  evidence  and 
witness  of  God's  power  and  presence ;  but  the  time 
has    now    come    when    just    the    reverse    is    true. 
Miracles   to   the   modern   mind   are    a   stumbling- 
block   to   faith,   for   the   reason   that   they  postu- 
late the  incomprehensible.     Furthermore,  we  have 
come  to  see  that  the  greatest  evidence  of  the  in- 
telligence and  personality  of  God  and  the  witness 
of  His  power  and  presence  is  not  in  miracles  or 
the  unconnected  and  merely  fortuitous  occurrences, 
but  in  the  great  manifestations  of  system  and  or- 
der, in  design  and  purpose,  in  orderly  cause  and 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  191 

effect,  or,  in  other  words,  in  the  intelligible  con- 
tinuity and  unifonnity  of  phenomena.  The  high- 
est mark  of  intelligent  personality  is  system,  or- 
der, design,  purpose.  God  thus  has  witnessed  of 
Himself  in  the  great  rational  order  of  the  world 
and  of  man  a  thousand  times  more  than  in  all  con- 
ceivable miracles  combined.  If  we  grant  the  oc- 
currence of  past  miracles,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
they  were  suffered  by  Christ  only  because  of  a 
stupid  and  perverse  generation  which  looked  for  a 
sign.  Miracles  may  not  be  said  to  be  irrational, 
but  are  extra-rational,  and  for  that  reason  can 
never  appeal  understandingly  to  the  mind.  They 
may  cause  us  to  wonder,  but  can  not  ground  us  in 
rational  faith. 

Returning  now  to  the  main  thought  of  our  dis- 
cussion, we  have  to  observe  that  from  the  biblical 
records  we  might  judge  that  there  were  multitudes 
of  devils.  The  devil,  therefore,  has  accordingly 
been  thought  of  as  the  prince  of  devils.  But  from 
our  former  conclusion  the  devil  and  all  possible 
devils  are  necessarily  finite  and  limited.  Hence 
all  the  spheres  of  their  operation  must  likewise 
necessarily  be  limited.  The  notion  of  a  universal 
prince  of  devils,  therefore,  is  wholly  gratuitous, 
and  has  arisen  from  a  process  of  abstraction  and 
personification.  Furthermore,  devils  of  whatever 
sort  are  conceived  as  evil  spirits.  A  devil  then 
would  be  but  a  big  sinner,  and  a  big  sinner  would 
be  a  devil.  The  prevailing  notion  is,  however, 
that  devils  are  disembodied  spirits ;  that  formerly 


19S  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

they  were  with  the  holy  angels,  but  that  they  fell 
from  their  original  state  by  sinning  against  God. 
The  Greeks  used  the  word  "  demon  "  to  designate 
the  disembodied  spirits  of  deceased  men,  primarily 
of  those  who  had  lived  in  the  Golden  Age,  before 
the  expulsion  of  Saturn.  ^*^  Jude,  in  his  epistle, 
represents  those  angels  which  kept  not  their  first 
estate  as  being  reserved  in  everlasting  chains  un- 
der darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day.^^  Giving  this  a  literal  meaning,  they  would 
be  bound  and  incapable  of  action  whatever.  Also, 
when  the  seventy  returned  with  joy  and  reported 
that  even  the  devils  were  subject  to  them  through 
his  name,  Christ  is  recorded  to  have  replied :  "  I 
beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."  ^^ 
From  the  context  it  appears  that  this  was  a  fig- 
urative way  in  which  he  conveyed  to  his  disciples 
the  fact  that  God  for  them  was  more  than  all  that 
could  be  against  them.  He  promised  that  noth- 
ing should  by  any  means  hurt  them.  It  was  a  po- 
etical vision  of  the  triumph  of  the  day  of  the  Lord, 
of  the  time  when  righteousness  should  cover  the 
earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  Literally  it 
would  not  have  been  true,  and  was  not  true,  for 
most  of  the  disciples  were  put  to  a  violent  death ; 
but  spiritually  it  symbolizes  the  victory  over  all 
the  powers  of  evil. 

The  question  may  be  raised  as  to  whether  it  is 

10  See  Heslod:     "Works  and  Days." 

11  Jude  1:6. 

12  St.  Luke  10,  18. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  193 

possible  for  the  spirits  of  deceased  men,  either 
good  or  bad,  to  hold  communion  with  living  men. 
The  answer  must  be  that  there  is  no  empirical 
knowledge  of  such  thing.  We  are  not  unaware 
that  modern  spiritualism  claims  to  empirically 
demonstrate  this  possibility ;  but  notwithstanding 
the  claim,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  whole  con- 
tention is  so  enveloped  in  thimble-rigging  devices 
and  fraudulent  arts  that  the  whole  subject  is  un- 
der grave  suspicion,  to  say  nothing  of  any  vestige 
of  truth  to  support  its  claims.  We  may  unhesi- 
tatingly conclude  that  so  far  as  human  knowledge 
goes  we  have  no  intercourse  with  departed  spirits. 
But  even  if  this  were  not  so,  and  we  should  grant 
the  possibility  of  such  communication,  it  would  be 
true  that  devils,  as  such  spirits,  could  act  upon  us 
no  more  readily  than  good  angels.  But  what 
knowledge  have  we  of  angels  of  any  character  .^^ 
That  holy  angels  guard  our  bed  is  beautiful  po- 
etry, and,  moreover,  serves  an  excellent  purpose. 
But  it  must  be  evident  to  all  that,  so  soon  as  we 
make  it  more  than  a  delightful  fancy,  we  have  en- 
tered the  realm  of  fiction.  We  may  observe,  in 
passing,  that  the  notion  of  the  angels  having  been 
cast  out  of  heaven  makes  clear  the  fact  that 
heaven  is  not  a  place  but  a  moral  condition ;  and 
that,  therefore,  none  can  win  heaven  in  such  a  way 
as  never  to  be  lost  from  it  again ;  but  that  all  at- 
tain and  retain  heaven  only  by  moral  fitness  and 
faithfulness  therein.  The  notion  of  Satan  and 
the  angels  being  cast  out  of  heaven  is  in  reality 


194  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

evidently  apocalyptic  and  nothing  more  than  sub- 
jective vision. 

Our  conclusion  then  must  be  that  the  notion  of 
an  omnipresent  devil  as  the  tempter  of  our  souls 
must  be  abandoned.  Under  any  circumstance 
he  must  be  conceived  as  finite,  and  as  disembodied 
spirit  we  have  no  knowledge  of  his  power  of  com- 
municating with  us.  This  would  all  be  true  were 
there  a  multitude  of  devils.  It  follows  that  evil 
men  alone  are  the  only  devils  of  which  we  have 
knowledge.  And  with  shame  it  must  be  admitted 
that  men  have  been  guilty  of  sins  of  which  devils 
could  do  no  more.  In  brief,  the  conception  of  the 
devil  is  but  symbolical,  metaphorical,  a  figurative 
embodiment  of  the  idea  of  evil  in  general,  and  is 
used  either  abstractly  or  as  a  personification. 
The  advantage  of  such  symbolic  usage  is  plain  to 
all,  and  taking  the  presuppositions  of  spontaneous 
thought  into  account,  literature  would  be  uninter- 
pretable  without  it.  That  Christ  himself  used  the 
term  in  the  figurative  sense  indicated  is  seen  in 
the  references  already  cited  and  in  every  other  in- 
stance where  he  is  reported  to  have  used  it.  It 
must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  Christ  did  not 
write  the  record  of  his  life  and,  therefore,  does  not 
stand  responsible  for  the  superstitious  presuppo- 
sitions which  have  been  introduced  into  it.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  quite  probable  that  more  of  the  life 
story  of  Christ  has  been  idealized  and  lifted  up 
into  the  sphere  of  the  universal  than  ever  has  been 
supposed.     The  Gospels  are  perhaps  not  so  much 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  195 

historical  and  biographical  as  they  are  literary 
productions  which  aim  the  better  to  teach  the 
great  truths  contained  therein.  It  is  evident  that 
they  do  avail  themselves  of  purely  fictitious,  imag- 
inary and  idealized  situations,  in  order  to  free  the 
truth  from  all  obstructive  and  imperfect  elements, 
and  to  make  it  the  more  forceful  and  universal. 
Christ  himself  taught,  indeed,  almost  wholly  by 
this  method,  availing  himself  of  parables,  meta- 
phors, and  similes,  taken  generally  from  the  ordi- 
nary experiences  of  daily  life.  These  have  chal- 
lenged the  admiration  of  all  ages,  and  are  the  best 
conceivable  means  of  enforcing  universal  truth. 
Just  how  much  and  how  little  of  the  Gospels  are 
of  this  parabolic  character  is  not  easy  to  say,  but 
that  more  of  it  is  of  the  universal  and  ideal  form 
than  has  generally  been  supposed  is  quite  prob- 
able. That  devils,  conceived  as  evil  spirits,  may 
exist  must  be  granted ;  and  it  is  also  true  that 
those  of  whom  we  have  certain  knowledge  are 
clothed  in  human  form.  But  that  there  is  a  devil, 
conceived  as  a  universal  or  omnipresent  evil  per- 
sonage, must  be  unreservedly  denied. 

But  the  question  may  be  raised :  If  there  is  no 
such  devil,  how  is  temptation  possible.'^  From 
whence  does  it  come.^  How  does  temptation  take 
place?  The  answer  is:  Temptation  is  primarily 
in  nmn's  self,  in  his  own  moral  freedom.  It  re- 
sults as  a  possibility  of  choice  between  good  and 
evil,  known  or  believed  in.  Temptation,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  no  more  than  the  impulse  or  disposi- 


196  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

tion  to  choose  what  we  know  to  be  wrong.  And  it 
is  evident  that  we  do  the  choosing  for  ourselves, 
and  not  the  devil.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true 
that  there  are  concrete  possibilities  of  evil  in  the 
nature  of  the  moral  order.  Hence  wicked  men, 
and  even  objective  things  and  conditions,  may  be- 
come the  occasion  of  our  being  tempted  through 
their  influence.  But  this  is  only  to  say  that  it 
is  a  world-order  which,  in  the  wisdom  of  the  good 
God,  provides  for  the  moral  nature,  and  which 
could  not  exist  if  there  were  not  the  possibility  of 
freely  choosing  between  possible  good  and  evil. 
But  no  external  condition  whatever  can  be  a  temp- 
tation to  the  soul  of  man  until  first  he  has  con- 
ceived the  evil  in  his  mind  and  desired  it  in  his 
heart.  Man,  and  man  only,  is  responsible  for  his 
sin.  No  evil  can  burst  the  bars  of  a  trul}^  noble 
and  steadfast  heart.  None  will  fall  a  prey  to 
temptation  who  keeps  his  heart  with  all  diligence, 
out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life.  Temptation 
is  primarily  the  consequence  of  moral  freedom. 

Here,  then,  in  the  moral  sphere  is  the  possibility 
of  endeavor  almost  divine.  We  are  the  supreme 
arbiters  of  our  own  destiny.  There  is  set  before 
us  life  and  death.  We  may  become  whatsoever 
we  will.  We  may  more  and  more  become  God- 
like, or  more  and  more  like  devils.  The  poet  has 
represented  Satan,  as  he  flies,  smiting  on  his  breast 
and  saying:     "I  myself  am  hell."  ^^      Christ  de- 

i^  Omar  Khayyam:      "  Rubaiyat."      Milton:      "Paradise 
Lost." 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  197 

clared :  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within 
you."  ^^  And  it  is  indeed  true  that  both  heaven 
and  hell  are  within.  Both  are  conditions  of  soul ; 
both  are  wholly  subjective.  Weal  or  woe  are 
bound  up  in  our  own  freedom.  We  have  need, 
therefore,  to  have  fear  of  our  own  delinquencies 
more  than  of  all  devils.  First  of  all  "  to  thine  own 
self  be  true,  and  it  follows,  as  the  night  the  day, 
thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man."  A  life 
of  personal  nobility  and  virtue  is  a  shield  against 
the  allurements  of  all  evil.  To  be  sure,  it  must 
always  be  remembered  that  we  begin  the  moral  life 
as  merely  potential  and  we  attain  to  relative  per- 
fection only  by  gradual  development.  To  reach 
the  mark  of  our  high  calling  is  life's  supreme  func- 
tion. He  that  is  faithful  unto  death  shall  receive 
a  crown  of  life. 

We  may  conclude  that  Christ  was  led  up  into 
the  wilderness  by  the  promptings  of  his  own  mind, 
not  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil  in  a  literal  sense, — 
for  there  is  no  such  devil  to  have  tempted  him, — 
but,  on  the  contrary,  to  test  and  prove  himself 
by  the  possible  conflict  of  good  and  evil  as  they 
aroused  the  impulses  of  his  free  moral  nature. 
There  was  no  devil  there  in  the  wilderness  which 
spake  with  Christ,  and  led  him  from  place  to  place ; 
there  was  only  his  inner  consciousness  in  conflict 
with  itself,  struggling  for  harmony  and  peace. 
His  mind  seems  to  have  been  in  doubt,  and  he  had 
no  settled  conviction  and  program  of  life.  But 
14  Luke  17:21. 


198  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

such  indecision  is  torment,  and  preeminently  is  this 
the  case  in  relation  to  all  moral  and  ethical  con- 
siderations. A  halting  between  two  opinions  is 
hell ;  a  house,  or  mind,  divided  against  itself  can 
not  stand.  We  can  not  serve  both  God  and  mam- 
mon. Ultimate  harmony  and  the  peace  the  world 
can  not  give  nor  take  away  are  reached  only  when 
we  have  become  reconciled  with  the  will  of  God  and 
with  ourselves.  Christ  in  this  instance,  in  a  grand 
and  typical  way,  was  passing  through  the  same 
inner  trial  and  experience  that  every  man  passes 
through,  and  in  the  same  way.  He  was  tempted 
and  tried  in  all  things  like  as  we  are,  yet  with- 
out sin.  There  was  no  devil  in  the  wilderness  with 
Christ,  but  only  the  sylvan  beauty  and  the  starry 
glory  —  and  God.  In  the  darkest  hour  and  in  the 
sorest  trial  God  is  near. 

Finally,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  God  who 
executeth  judgment,  and  not  the  devil.  The  un- 
critical mind  has  not  only  thought  of  the  devil  as 
being  the  source  of  temptation,  but  also  the 
one  that  effects  retribution.  Accordingly,  the 
heathen  seek  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  evil  spir- 
its by  worship  and  by  gifts  of  sacrifice.  In  fact, 
something  of  this  element  has  prevailed  in  the 
conception  of  God  Himself.  In  the  ancient  mind, 
even  that  of  the  Hebrew,  God  was  thought  of  as 
being  angry  with  men,  as  a  God  of  war  and  venge- 
ance, a  God  of  wrath  and  terror,  and  therefore 
was  to  be  feared  and  dreaded.  Indeed,  the  old 
custom  of  human  sacrifice  was  based  on  the  notion 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  199 

that  God's  indignation  against  men  was  so  great 
that  He  could  be  reconciled  only  by  the  bloody 
and  cruel  sacrifice  of  their  own  children  or  kin. 
Thus  the  story  of  Abraham's  sacrifice  of  Isaac 
and  of  his  deliverance  by  the  substitution  of  an 
animal  offering  was  written  and  related  at  every 
camp  fire  and  by  every  hearthstone  as  a  perpetual 
protest  against  human  sacrifice.  It  was  because 
of  this  almost  diabolic  conception  of  God  that  the 
proverb  so  epitomized  it :  "  The  fear  of  the  Lord 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom."  ^^  But  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  given  us  by  Christ,  were  we  writing 
the  form  of  wisdom  now  we  would  declare  it :  The 
love  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom. 
Therefore,  to  love  God  with  all  our  hearts  and  our 
neighbors  as  ourselves  is  indeed  the  whole  of  the 
law  and  the  prophets.  This  must  be  our  thought 
in  the  light  of  our  conception  of  God  as  the  alto- 
gether Good,  as  full  of  compassion  and  plenteous 
in  mercy.  God  is  Love,  not  hate,  and  to  love  God 
and  man  is  the  highest  virtue.  It  is  not  the  devil 
that  executeth  evil  upon  us  at  all.  "  Vengeance  is 
mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord."  ^^  God  it  is 
that  guarantees  the  integrity  of  the  moral  order. 
It  is  God  that  rewards  us  according  to  our  deeds, 
good  or  bad,  and  His  great  law  of  requital  is  as 
absolute  as  the  law  of  gravity.  Hence  in  the 
thought  of  the  Psalmist  even  God  appears  wicked 
to  the  wicked,  because  he  compels  them  to  reap 

15  Psalm  111:10. 

16  Rom.  12:19. 


200  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

as  they  have  sown,  and  there  is  no  escape.  "  To 
the  f roward  man  I  will  show  myself  f  roward ;  and 
unto  the  pure  I  will  show  myself  pure."  ^^  We 
can  not  escape  from  God's  power.  Again  this 
conception  of  God  was  clear  to  the  Psalmist. 
Thus  he  exclaims :  "  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy 
spirit.?  Or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  pres- 
ence.'^ If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there; 
if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there."  ^^ 
This  is  but  to  say  that  God  alone  recompenses 
both  good  and  evil ;  that  neither  heaven  nor  hell 
are  apart  from  Him ;  that  we  can  not  escape  retri- 
bution even  though  we  take  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea. 
How  vain  a  thing  for  a  man  to  try  to  flee  from  his 
rebuking  sins  when  within  he  bears  a  guilty  con- 
science from  which  he  can  not  escape.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  good  God  makes  most  intense  his 
condemnation,  but  in  no  way  can  he  elude  His 
presence.  God  alone  rewards  men,  according  as 
they  do  either  good  or  evil.  Even  the  ancients 
reached  this  conception  of  God.  "  To  me  belong- 
eth  vengeance  and  recompence."  ^^ 

Although  God  requites  evil  as  well  as  good,  yet 
it  must  be  held  that  He  punishes  the  sinner  with  re- 
gret and  sorrow.  Just  as  when  a  father  is  com- 
pelled to  chastise  a  wayward  child,  but  does  it  with 
reluctance  and  grief,  yet  with  the  sense  of  its  cor- 

i7Psa.  18:36. 
isPsa.  139:7,  8. 
i9Deut.  32:35. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  201 

rection  and  final  good,  so  must  we  think  that  the 
heart  of  the  heavenly  Father  is  unspeakably  sad- 
dened when  He  is  compelled  to  requite  punishment 
to  His  sinful  child.  Shall  the  heart  of  God,  who 
has  made  us  capable  of  feeling,  itself  be  feeling- 
less?  What  shame  that  the  sons  of  God  should  so 
wound  His  love  and  compassion !  The  very  good- 
ness of  God  requires  that  He  view  the  sinner  with 
pity  instead  of  with  anger.  His  affection  is  that 
of  a  father  toward  a  prodigal  child.  He  pleads 
for  their  return ;  He  longs  for  their  reinstatement 
in  the  home.  Nevertheless,  He  is  not  weak  or  in- 
different concerning  their  misdoings,  but  will  re- 
quire of  them  the  utmost  farthing.  This  is  the 
demand  of  love ;  it  can  not  bear  to  see  the  fault 
in  you,  and  can  not  rest  content  until  you  are  per- 
fect. Therefore,  good  or  bad,  our  reward  shall 
infallibly  be  meted  out  to  us.  "  The  Lord  is  not 
slack  concerning  his  promise,  as  some  men  count 
slackness ;  but  is  longsuffering  to  us-ward,  not 
willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should 
come  to  repentance."  ^^  Although  patient  with 
us,  yet  God  will  requite  us  our  evil,  and  what 
we  sow  we  shall  reap.  Think  not,  because  there 
is  no  almighty  devil,  that  we  shall  be  able  to  escape 
the  consequences  of  our  sins ;  but  the  surer  shall 
our  retribution  be,  because  the  Almighty  God  is 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  and  His  decrees  cannot 
fail. 

Furthermore,   it  must  be  admitted  that  God's 
20  II  Peter  3:9. 


202  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

punishment  is  not  for  the  sake  of  vengeance,  nor 
deHght  in  chastening  for  its  own  sake,  as  has  been 
assumed  to  be  the  case  with  the  devil ;  but  its  sole 
purpose  is  reclamation  and  reformation.  Punish- 
ment is  only  for  correction,  reproof,  and  the  sal- 
vation  of  the  punished.  It  is  evident,  too,  that 
this  can  be  the  only  rational  end  of  any  punish- 
ment whatever.  If  penal  institutions  had  gained 
this  viewpoint  long  ago,  it  would  have  been  to  the 
betterment  of  mankind.  The  notion  that  God 
was  a  God  of  anger  and  revenge,  as  held  by  even 
the  Hebrews,  was  purely  anthropomorphic,  and 
grew  out  of  the  savage  passions  of  men.  To  be 
sure,  when  we  view  the  infallible  law  of  re- 
quital, in  which  God  has  guaranteed  the  integrity 
of  the  moral  world,  and  realize  that  no  man  can 
escape  from  its  consequences,  it  might  well  appear 
to  the  minds  of  men,  who  think  in  terms  of  their 
own  passions,  that  He  was  pursuing  them  with 
vengeance ;  but  this  is  a  fallacy  of  our  unreflective 
thinking.  God's  mercy  endureth  forever,  and 
even  His  penal  executions  are  the  implications  of 
His  righteousness;  justice  and  the  moral  order 
can  admit  of  nothing  less.  And  so  long  as 
we  remember  that  He  is  full  of  compassion  and 
plenteous  in  mercy,  that  He  desireth  that  none 
should  perish,  it  follows  that  we  may  implicitly 
believe  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  who  live  according  to  His  purpose.  It  is 
man  that  errs ;  God  doeth  all  things  well.  Retri- 
bution is  but  the  law  of  goodness,  and  a  righteous 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  S03 

God  is  the  absolute  postulate  of  the  moral  world. 
Finally,  the  notion  that  God  is  the  Ruler  of  the 
kingdom  of  good,  and  the  devil  the  ruler  of  the 
kingdom  of  evil,  has  to  be  abandoned.  God  is 
the  Ruler  alone  of  the  entire  moral  realm,  and  re- 
quites both  good  and  evil.  Only  His  infinite  wis- 
dom and  immanent  power  could  be  adequate  to 
the  task.  He  only  could  be  fully  cognizant  of  all 
the  factors  entering  into  human  conduct  and  life, 
and  therefore  He  alone  could  be  entirely  just. 
So  momentous  a  problem  could  not  be  entrusted 
to  less  than  the  infinite  Wisdom  and  Love.  But 
when  we  take  into  account  these  supreme  qualifi- 
cations, we  may  be  fully  assured  that  His  judg- 
ments are  true  and  righteous  altogether.  It  must 
be  granted  that  the  subject  is  fraught  with  almost 
infinite  complexity,  yet  the  law  which  governs 
the  whole  is  comparatively  simple:  what  we  sow 
we  reap.  For  every  action  there  is  a  like  reaction. 
But  for  this  very  reason  it  has  been  assumed,  on 
the  part  of  some,  that  this  makes  impossible  sal- 
vation from  sin.  That  is,  if  we  reap  what  we  sow, 
how  is  it  possible  to  escape  the  consequences  of 
sin.f^  There  is  no  escape,  it  must  be  admitted. 
But  suppose  that  the  sinner  turns  from  the  error 
of  his  way,  and  begins  to  sow  good  seed,  must  it 
not  be  that  the  same  inevitable  law  applies  then 
as  well.^  If  so,  then  he  must  necessarily  reap  the 
harvest  of  the  good  seed  he  has  sown.  Just  how 
the  consequences  of  the  evil  seed  which  he  has  sown 
may  be  overcome  by  that  of  the  good  seed  which 


204  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

he  is  sowing  is  not  easy  to  show.  Now,  however, 
that  there  is  the  godly  purpose  in  the  hfe,  there 
would  seem  to  be  at  least  the  possibility  of  over- 
coming evil  by  doing  good.  The  moral  state 
of  being  seems  to  be  primarily  one  of  righteous 
motive.  A  man's  personal  salvation  rests  in  his 
present  relation  to  the  ideal  of  righteousness. 
And  when  he  has  turned  to  a  holy  life,  the  very 
law  of  requital  must  bring  him  the  harvest  of  sal- 
vation. It  cannot  be  otherwise.  Furthermore, 
the  only  way  in  which  actual  moral  evil  can  be 
annulled  is  by  free  pardon.  When  the  heart  is 
turned  to  God  the  past  wrongs  are  forgiven. 
Their  outer  consequences,  to  be  sure,  are  not  over- 
come ;  what  is  done  cannot  be  undone.  But  their 
moral  effect  in  the  free  spirit  is  thereby  relieved. 
Damnation  is  a  spiritual  state,  and  pardon  gives 
freedom  from  its  thralldom.  If  we  have  wronged 
a  man,  the  only  way  in  which  it  can  be  made  right 
is  to  freely  confess  our  fault  and  ask  forgiveness, 
and  add  thereto  the  task  of  restitution  so  far  as 
that  is  possible.  More  than  this  is  not  possible 
to  any  one.  But  if  pardon  is  granted,  then  we 
are  restored,  and  all  is  made  right.  So  likewise 
when  we  have  sinned  against  God,  our  iniquity  can 
be  blotted  out  only  by  repentance  and  the  free  for- 
giveness of  God.  Forgiveness  is  a  function  of 
freedom  which  has  hardly  an  analogy  in  the  nat- 
ural order  of  cause  and  effect.  Yet  in  the  realm 
of  reason  it  is  just  that;  forgiveness  rests  on  a 
change  of  motives,  and  institutes  a  new  relation. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  205 

Requital  is  in  harmony  with  this  new  condition. 
It  is  a  work  of  freedom  and  grace.  "  Beloved, 
now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be."  ^^  It  is  God  that  guar- 
antees the  integrity  of  the  moral  order  in  this 
present  life  and  the  life  to  come. 

We  are  led  to  conclude,  therefore,  without  hesi- 
tation that  Christ  was  led  of  his  spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted,  not  literally  by  the  devil, 
for  there  was  none  such  to  tempt  him,  but  in  his 
own  soul,  in  a  purely  subjective  manner,  just  as 
are  you  and  I.  In  the  isolation  of  the  wilderness 
the  struggle  within  his  soul  went  on ;  and  none 
other  was  present  but  himself  and  God  alone.  To 
the  reflecting  mind,  this  outcome  not  only  does  not 
invalidate  the  Gospel  record,  but  is  the  only  one 
which  can  find  rational  grounds  to  stand  upon. 
With  this  interpretation  the  narrative  is  fraught 
with  intense  meaning;  without  it  we  are  lost  in 
vain  imaginations. 
211  John  3:2. 


CHAPTER  VII 
TEMPTATION  OF  SENSUOUSNESS 


"  Refrain  tonight: 
And  that  shall  lend  a  kind  of  easiness 
To  the  next  abstinence:  the  next  more  easy; 
For  use  almost  can  change  the  stamp  of  nature, 
And  master  the  devil,  or  throw  him  out 
With  wondrous  potency." 

Shakespeare,  "  Hamlet,"  Act  III,  Sc.  iv. 

"  And  when  he  had  fasted  forty  days  and  forty 
nights,  he  was  afterward  anhungered.  And  when 
the  tempter  came  to  him  he  said.  If  thou  be  the  Son 
of  God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread. 
But  he  answered  and  said.  It  is  written,  Man  shall 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 

St,  Matthew  4:3,  4. 

"  Vice  is  the  disease  of  the  soul,  its  bad  habit,  its 
deformity.  Is  not  he  wretched  who  enslaves  his  soul 
to  the  unclean  appetites  of  his  body?  " 

Plato. 

"  From  performing  just  actions  a  man  becomes  just; 
and  from  performing  temperate  ones,  temperate;  but 
without  performing  them  no  person  would  even  be 
likely  to  become  good." 

Aristotle,  "  Ethics,"  II,  4. 


CHAPTER  VII 
TEMPTATION  OF  SENSUOUSNESS 

All  possible  temptations  must  find  their  grounds 
in  the  constitution  and  nature  of  man.  They 
must  arise  from  some  human  impulse  or  potential- 
ity. Every  temptation  and  vice,  accordingly,  is 
but  the  perversion  of  an  otherwise  natural  and 
beneficent  function. 

There  are  two  .  universal  functions  above  all 
others  which  characterize  human  life  in  common 
with  all  living  things  whatever:  namely,  alimenta- 
tion and  procreation.  Every  living  species,  vege- 
table and  animal,  feeds  and  reproduces.  These 
functions  are  the  universal  symbols  of  life.  Be- 
ing the  most  vital  functions  of  life,  it  follows  nat- 
urally that  their  perversion  and  prostitution 
must  result  in  the  worst  intemperance  and  most 
deadly  vices  that  befall  mankind. 

From  the  necessity  of  eating,  which  in  its  nor- 
mal uses  is  pleasant  as  well  as  beneficial,  there 
arises  the  temptation  to  excessive  indulgence  which 
results  in  gluttony  and  intemperance.  From  the 
sexual  impulse,  so  necessary  to  assure  the  propa- 
gation of  the  race,  and  beneficent  in  its  legiti- 
mate sphere,  come  the  awful  consequences  of  unre- 

209 


210  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

strained  indulgence,  resulting  in  weakness,  insan- 
ity, and  death.  The  adulterer  and  sexual  pervert 
are  punished  with  unmentionable  venereal  diseases, 
which  at  times  wreak  such  ravage  as  to  make  us 
almost  despair  of  humanity. 

From  these  observations  it  is  evident  that  the 
two  basal  functions  of  life  furnish  to  mankind  the 
most  vulnerable  impulses  to  temptation.  More 
people  are  brought  down  to  death,  directly  or  in- 
directly, by  illegitimate  indulgence  in  eating, 
drinking,  and  sexual  perversion  than  by  all  other 
ills  combined.  The  statistics  of  these  vices  pre- 
sent an  alarming  spectacle.  And  without  doubt 
most  other  diseases  which  afflict  humanity  are  en- 
gendered largely  by  the  debility  resulting  from 
these  primary  evils. 

But  the  sexual  impulse  and  temptation  is  at 
most  periodic  and  transient ;  on  the  other  hand, 
nourishment  is  a  constant  necessity.  We  must 
eat  twice  or  more  times  a  day,  and  drink  still 
oftener,  throughout  the  entire  period  of  our  lives ; 
and  the  consequence  is  that  temptation  to  dissipa- 
tion in  this  regard  is  more  constant,  if  not  more 
deadly,  than  in  any  other.  The  sins  of  gluttony 
and  drunkenness,  therefore,  are  the  most  universal 
of  all  vices. 

We  must  now  note,  however,  that  the  tempta- 
tions growing  out  of  the  fundamental  functions  of 
life  arise  because  of  the  feelings  or  sensibilities 
which  attend  them.  It  is  the  pleasurable  sensi- 
bilities  in   connection  with  their  indulgence   that 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  211 

stimulate  the  impulses  to  immoderation.  All  the 
various  senses  afford  occasion  for  temptation,  but 
none  are  open  to  such  suicidal  abuse  as  attends 
the  basal  functions  of  life.  The  senses  of  seeing, 
hearing,  and  smelling  cannot  of  themselves  be  in- 
dulged in  gravely  deleterious  ways,  albeit  they 
may  be  instrumental  in  leading  to  possible  evils. 
On  the  other  hand,  taste  and  feeling  are  capable 
of  almost  endless  perversion,  with  the  most  morti- 
fying consequences.  All  possible  temptations  in 
connection  with  bodily  functions,  however,  are 
embraced  in  the  sentient  nature  of  man,  and  ac- 
cordingly ma}^  be  classified  as  temptations  of  sen- 
suousness.  When,  therefore,  Christ,  being  an- 
hungered, was  tempted  to  turn  stones  into  bread, 
his  impulse  was  an  appeal  of  the  sensuous  nature, 
the  same  as  with  all  men. 

Coming,  then,  to  the  first  temptation  of  Christ, 
we  observe  the  idealized  form  and  the  universal 
significance  of  sentient  temptation.  No  passion 
is  stronger  than  hunger,  and  its  power  can  be  fully 
knov/n  only  after  enforced  fasting.  That  it  was 
possible  for  Christ  to  have  lived  forty  days  with- 
out food  has  been  held  to  be  incredible.  Food  is 
the  most  mandatory  of  all  physical  requirements, 
and  it  has  been  thought  that  no  one  could  live  so 
long  without  it.  But  this  is  a  mistaken  assump- 
tion, for  modern  experimentation  has  not  only 
demonstrated  this  possibility,  but  has  actually  ac- 
complished far  greater  fasts.  Total  abstinence 
from  food  for  three  weeks  or  more  was  not  an  un- 


212  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

common  prescription  of  the  Arab  physician  Avi- 
cenna.  Dr.  Tanner  fasted  thirty-nine  days. 
Robert  de  Moleme,  founder  of  the  Cistercian 
brotherhood,  fasted  seventy  days,  after  which  he 
lived  an  active  hfe  for  fourteen  years.  Trance- 
fasters,  hke  Augusta  Kerner  of  Ingolstadt,  have 
survived  in  a  semi-conscious  condition  for  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  year.  Like  occurrences  might  be 
multiplied.^ 

Fasting  has  also  been  found  to  have  in  it  unex- 
pected therapeutic  possibilities.  Animals  rectify 
their  sickness  by  fasting;  and  by  voluntary  absti- 
nence various  human  diseases,  even  insanity  itself, 
have  been  relieved  or  cured.  It  is  well  known  that 
in  desert  marches,  as  well  as  in  protracted  sick- 
ness, men  have  lived  an  incredibly  long  time  with- 
out food.  There  can  be  no  reason,  therefore, 
for  believing  anything  to  the  contrary  but  that 
Christ  may  have  actually  fasted,  either  voluntarily 
or  from  necessity,  and  for  as  long  a  time  as  re- 
ported. 

But  the  principle  underlying  this  temptation  of 
Christ  is  the  chief  matter  of  our  concern, — 
namely,  that  hunger  and  thirst  are  the  most  fun- 
damental of  all  the  sentient  appetites  and  passions. 
They  result  from  the  natural  cravings  of  the  body 
for  repair  and  sustenance,  which  are  a  matter  of 
life    and    death,    and    are    consequently    the   most 

1  Cf.  Bernarr  MacFadden  and  Felix  Osxcald,  M.D.:  "Fast- 
ing, Hydropathy,  and  Exercise."  Also,  E.  H.  Dewey,  M.D. : 
"  The  ko-Breakfast  Plan  and  Fasting  Cure." 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  213 

powerful  of  all  impulses.  The  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  is  paramount  to  all  others,  and  to 
obtain  food  and  drink  is  the  most  barbarous  of 
passions.  With  animals,  together  with  the  in- 
stinct of  propagation,  it  is  about  the  only  ruling 
passion,  and  with  men  it  is  even  more  intensified. 
It  is  this  fundamental  passion,  more  than  any 
other,  that  leads  men  into  all  forms  of  inhumanity. 
This  primal  instinct  in  human  life  to  provide  for 
keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door,  in  given  circum- 
stances has  turned  men  into  worse  than  beasts. 
It  is  in  this  relation  that  man  has  shown  his  most 
vicious  side.  It  is  this  basal  instinct  which  has 
turned  men  into  misers  and  money-mad  hoarders 
of  wealth,  sacrificing  every  comfort  of  life,  ruth- 
lessly crushing  their  fellow-men,  disrupting  their 
business,  breaking  hearts  and  blighting  lives,  driv- 
ing to  suicide  and  worse  than  death,  all  without 
remorse  or  compunction  of  conscience.  Thus  the 
pang  of  necessity  leads  to  avarice.  Need  makes 
greed. 

The  endeavor  to  provide  against  the  day  of 
need  is  instinctive,  but  from  serving  the  demands 
of  necessity  it  may  gradually  become  an  aggres- 
sive passion  for  power  and  ambition.  A  most 
praiseworthy  motive  may  be  thus  corrupted 
into  an  instrument  of  vulgar  exploitation.  The 
wretched  miser  and  the  prosperous  commercial 
prince  are  in  the  same  class,  moved  by  the  same 
human  instinct  and  passion.  Both  hoard  prima- 
rily from  the  fear  of  need,  and  the  desire  to  avoid 


£14  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

want  should  it  ever  come,  forgetful  of  the  fact 
that  all  the  gold  in  the  world  could  not  buy  one 
morsel  of  bread  if  the  All-Giver  give  it  not.  Rea- 
sonable provision  for  the  day  of  need  is  commend- 
able, but  when  this  passion  becomes  a  paroxysm 
of  miserly  dread  or  vaulting  ambition  it  is  foolish. 
We  may  well  stop  to  consider  the  sane  words  of 
Christ :  "  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air,  for  they 
sow  not,  neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into 
barns ;  yet  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them. 
Are  ye  not  much  more  than  they  ?  "  ^ 

And  when  Christ  was  tempted  in  his  extreme 
hunger  to  turn  stones  into  bread,  it  is  evident  no 
more  powerful  temptation  could  have  come  to 
him  at  that  moment.  It  matters  not  whether  the 
biblical  narrative  be  regarded  as  representing  a 
real  experience,  or  only  an  idealized  conception 
by  which  a  given  lesson  may  be  enforced ;  the  im- 
port is  the  same  in  either  case.  But,  in  any  event, 
the  account  of  the  "  temptation  "  does  take  on  an 
idealized  value  for  us,  and  so  comes  to  have  a  uni- 
versal significance.  It  is  not  merely  the  record 
of  an  event  in  the  life  of  Christ,  but  is  the  presen- 
tation of  a  universally  valid  principle,  applicable 
in  the  lives  of  all  men.  The  story  has  an  ideal 
and  symbolic  value  for  us.  It  is  characteristic 
of  these  temptations  of  Christ,  as  we  shall  increas- 
ingly see,  that  the  strongest  of  all  possible  pas- 
sions are  taken  as  typical  of  their  class.  Thus 
all    lesser    passions    can   be    subsumed   under    the 

2  St.  Matt.  6:26. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  215 

greater,  whose  law  they  would  naturally  follow. 
Hunger,  therefore,  is  typical  of  all  other  sentient 
passions.  And  it  is  evident  if  we  are  able  to  suc- 
cessfully control  the  more  potent  sources  of  temp- 
tation, all  others  can  more  readily  be  mastered ; 
if  we  can  rule  the  stronger,  then  there  is  no  ex- 
cuse in  the  weaker. 

The  temptation  of  Christ  in  the  wilderness  was 
of  an  extraordinary  character.  It  is  possible 
that,  while  on  his  journeys,  he  may  have  become 
lost  on  his  way  and  been  near  perishing  from  lack 
of  nourishment.  At  any  rate,  we  learn  that 
"  when  he  had  fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights 
he  was  afterward  anhungered."  Accordingly  his 
desire  for  food  was  overpowering.  Like  Esau, 
who,  returning  from  the  chase  empty  handed,  was 
so  famished  that  it  seemed  to  him  he  must  die 
unless  at  once  he  could  have  to  eat  of  the  pottage 
which  Jacob  had  at  hand,  and  accordingly  sold 
his  birthright  therefor  as  a  thing  of  no  value  com- 
pared to  it, —  so  Christ  was  tempted  to  surrender 
principles,  destiny,  and  all,  for  the  gratification 
of  his  then  present  desire.  In  their  dire  hunger 
men  will  turn  cannibal  and  eat  one  another.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  realm  of  experience  which 
makes  man  to  realize  his  helplessness  and  depend- 
ence upon  God  so  much  as  the  absolute  require- 
ment for  daily  bread.  The  real  significance  of 
fasting  is  in  its  spiritual  value,  in  that  it  brings 
man  to  a  constant  realization  of  his  absolute  de- 
pendence upon  the  providence  of  God  every  mo- 


216  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ment  of  his  life,  and  without  which  he  must  assur- 
edly be  cut  oiF.  The  too  well  fed  are  in  imminent 
danger  of  forgetting  this  relation  of  dependence 
upon  the  divine.  Like  Jeshurun,  they  wax  fat 
and  kick.  To  such  sleek  and  festive  people  noth- 
ing better  can  happen  for  their  spiritual  awaken- 
ing than  being  brought  to  extreme  hunger  by  a 
siege  of  compulsory  fasting.  We  never  know  the 
meaning  of  food  and  drink  until  once  we  are  thor- 
oughly famished.  And  men  never  turn  their 
hearts  to  God  with  such  profound  thankfulness 
as  when  in  the  face  of  starvation  their  thirst  is 
slaked  and  their  hunger  is  assuaged.  This  beati- 
tude of  thankfulness  is  transcended  only  when  we 
have  hungered  and  thirsted  after  righteousness 
and  have  been  filled ;  for  then  we  "  hunger  and 
thirst  no  more."  It  is  the  sinner  who  trembles 
in  the  face  of  danger.  A  wicked  man  is  a  weak 
man.  Corrective  providence  makes  his  cheek  to 
blanch;  he  is  a  coward.  It  is  only  by  being 
brought  low  in  his  haughty  pride  that  he  may  be 
restored  to  sanity.  This  is  the  economy  of  all 
correctives  which  come  to  men  in  life.  Whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth. 

Reasonable  fasting,  therefore,  may  become  a 
means  of  grace  as  well  as  a  means  of  health.  It 
was  out  of  this  consciousness  that  arose  the  cus- 
toms of  fasting  and  thanksgiving,  and  from  this 
they  derived  their  significance.  In  ancient  Israel, 
fasting  was  a  religious  custom,  and  the  same  pre- 
vails to  some  extent  among  Christian  bodies  to- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  217 

day.  The  interpretation  of  the  custom  seems  to 
be  that  men,  having  first  fasted  from  penance  or 
necessity,  found  a  deeper  result  attending  their 
acts  in  spiritual  enriching.  By  abstaining  from 
food  for  a  time  the  mind  is  wonderfully  cleared 
and  the  spiritual  perception  greatly  intensified. 
On  the  other  hand,  by  such  abstinence  we  marvel- 
ously  intensify  appetite,  so  that  when  we  break 
our  fast  there  is  a  greatly  magnified  appreciation 
of  our  blessings,  a  genuine  gladness  for  the  pro- 
vision of  our  needs,  and  a  spirit  of  thanksgiving, 
joy  and  reverence,  together  with  a  devout  recog- 
nition of  our  utter  dependence  upon  God  as  the 
giver  of  every  good,  which  fills  our  hearts.  The 
too  well  fed  cease  to  be  properly  thankful,  and  a 
season  of  compulsory  fasting  would  do  more  for 
many  a  sceptic's  irreligion  than  a  thousand  homi- 
lies. The  church  does  well  to  maintain  the  custom 
of  fasting  before  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per and  on  other  stated  occasions,  and  it  could  be 
voluntarily  practiced  with  benefit  by  all.  It  is  a 
wise  thing  now  and  then  to  fast  for  a  meal  or  two 
simply  for  the  sake  of  toning  up  the  system.  And 
it  is  astonishing  to  those  who  have  never  tried  it 
to  find  how  both  mind  and  body  are  refreshed  by 
it.  It  is  almost  a  sure  cure  for  dullness  and  lan- 
guor. It  makes  vital  the  spirit  of  thankfulness, 
and  solemnizes  the  heart  for  religious  reverence 
and  devotion.  Hence  by  this  unexpected  agency 
men  are  brought  feelingly  nearer  to  God,  and 
made  fit  temples  for  His  indwelling. 


nS  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

It  would  appear  that  Christ  had  in  mind  these 
enriching  benefits  when,  on  returning  from  the 
mountain  of  transfiguration,  he  found  his  disciples 
vainly  trying  to  heal  a  lunatic,  and  said  to  them: 
"  This  kind  goeth  not  out  but  by  fasting  and 
prayer."  ^  The  spiritual  clearness  obtained  from 
abstinence  and  a  prayerful  mood  seems  to  be  sug- 
gested as  a  condition  of  mental  sanity  requisite 
for  healing.  But  this  is  surely  a  hard  saying, 
and  not  easily  interpreted.  The  fasting  and 
prayer  might  be  applicable  either  to  the  needs  of 
the  lunatic  himself,  or,  as  appears  more  likely, 
they  were  probably  meant  to  refer  to  those  of  the 
disciples  by  way  of  reproof  and  instruction.  We 
can  understand,  however,  how  fasting  and  prayer 
might  affect  the  lunatic  in  the  case  of  his  practic- 
ing it ;  but  how  it  could  affect  him,  if  the  disciples 
were  to  do  it  in  his  stead,  is  anything  but  clear. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  practice  of  absti- 
nence and  prayerful  devotion  does  result  in  clear- 
ness of  vision  and  spiritual  enriching.  It  is  also 
clear  that  such  a  sanity  of  mind  and  spiritual  fur- 
nishing are  the  best  possible  precondition  of  whole- 
some influence  upon  the  diseased  mind  and  the 
means  of  power  over  it.  In  either  case,  therefore, 
Christ  enunciated  a  profound  truth.  Of  course, 
it  is  not  made  known  to  us  just  what  was  the  na- 
ture of  the  lunatic's  affliction,  and  fasting  and 
prayer  on  his  part  might  have  accomplished  the 
desired  end.  We  have  already  cited  the  fact  that 
3  St.  Matt.  17:21. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  S19 

insanity  has  been  known  to  be  cured  in  this  way. 
It  is  also  true,  on  the  other  hand,  that  mental  san- 
ity and  spiritual  power  are  always  the  source  of 
greatest  confidence,  and  an  indispensable  condi- 
tion of  the  betterment  of  the  sick  and  afflicted.  It 
is  well  known  that  half  of  the  battle  is  in  implicit 
confidence  in  the  attending  physician.  A  lack  of 
confidence  makes  impossible  the  desired  result,  even 
in  the  hands  of  the  most  skilled.  "  As  a  man 
thinketh  in  his  heart  "  we  find  is  the  first  of  all 
conditions  for  doing  anything  for  him.  From  the 
lack  of  belief  in  him,  Christ  declared  he  could  do 
no  mighty  works.  The  condition  of  blessing  them 
was  faith,  and  when  this  expression  of  confidence 
was  lacking  he  could  do  nothing.  We  can  well 
imagine  that  this  was  a  condition  in  his  day  and 
generation  more  than  in  the  present,  because  of 
the  prevailing  ignorance.  Physical  treatment  was 
then  in  its  infancy,  and  for  that  reason  there 
was  the  greater  need  of  appealing  to  the  most  fa- 
vorable mental  conditions  for  healing.  Fasting 
and  prayer  created  a  sanity  and  strength  of  mind 
which  was  calculated  to  instill  confidence  in  the 
afflicted,  and  it  is  conceivable  that  the  reactionary 
effect  of  this  might  have  been  to  work  a  bodily 
benefit  in  him  that  was  lunatic.  Outside  this  line 
of  thinking  there  could  be  no  understanding  of 
these  difficult  words.  But  in  this  day  we  know 
that  just  the  implied  results  are  obtained  on  oc- 
casion in  this  manner.  The  man  who  has  a  bold 
and  commanding  personality  may  by  his  own  nat- 


220  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ural  leadership  attain  to  the  almost  impossible. 
In  a  panic  or  before  a  mob  how  often  we  learn  of 
some  masterful  personage  who  steps  into  the 
breach  and  quells  the  rabble  by  his  very  assump- 
tion of  authority.  It  is  this  quality  which  makes 
a  man  to  become  the  victorious  general  on  the 
field  of  battle.  Napoleon  repeatedly  snatched  vic- 
tory out  of  the  jaws  of  defeat  by  the  inspiration 
of  his  personality.  This  power  of  personality 
would  have  prevailed  to  a  much  greater  degree  in 
the  ancient  time  when  men  had  a  superstitious  no- 
tion of  men,  and  its  power  over  ignorant  minds 
was  almost  illimitable. 

It  is  not  any  wonder,  when  men  are  so  influenced 
by  their  credulities,  that  whoever  could  work  upon 
their  imagination  or  inspire  their  confidence  could 
perform  apparent  miracles  and  accomplish  the  al- 
most impossible.  It  is  reported  of  Julius  Caesar 
that  upon  one  occasion  when  crossing  the  Medi- 
terranean a  storm  raged  so  furiously  the  seamen 
gave  up  the  ship.  He  took  command,  ordered  the 
captain  to  the  wheel  and  saved  the  lives  of  all,  de- 
claring that  they  would  not  be  lost  for  that  Caesar 
was  on  board.  He  so  believed  in  his  star  of  des- 
tiny. It  would  hardly  be  possible  in  the  present 
to  gain  such  command  by  such  means.  Then 
there  was  a  prevailing  belief  that  certain  men 
wore  a  charmed  life,  and  that  so  long  as  they  were 
in  evidence  all  would  be  well.  Thinking  as  they 
did  that  some  were  born  of  the  gods,  or  commis- 
sioned by  them  to  given  ends,  the  power  such  were 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  221 

^ble  to  exercise  over  some  minds  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at.     The  king's  evil  was  cured,  not  by  any 
supernatural    power   of    the   "  Lord's    anointed," 
but  by  attendant  physiological  and  psychological 
agencies.     The  psychology  of  superstition  is  in- 
tensely interesting.     It  has  its  authentic  miracles 
in  the  present  day.     How  often  do  we  hear  of  won- 
drous  cures  being  wrought  by  the  magic  power 
of  some  saint's  bones  or  other  sacred  relics !     It 
cannot  be  doubted  that  certain  cures  have  been 
effected  where  the  cause  of  affliction  was  primarily 
mental  and  the  conditions  admitted;  and  this  in 
itself  is  sufficient  to  maintain  faith  in  the  notion. 
That  the  cure  could  have  been  effected  by  other 
agencies  even  more  readily  is  not  taken  into  con- 
sideration.    Modern  mind-curists  have  even  more 
wonderful   records   to  exhibit.     Among  our  fore- 
fathers was  published  a  book  of  magic,  wherein 
by  the  saying  of  its  formulas  or  the  doing  of  its 
commands  upon  occasion,  all  evils  could  be  avoided 
and  all  goods   obtained.     And  there  was   almost 
universal  belief  in  their  efficacy.     Among  the  more 
ignorant,  these  same  beliefs  prevail  even  to-day. 
The  world,  to  a  degree,  yet  believes  in  signs  and 
wonders. 

The  unique  character  of  Christ's  temptation 
was  that,  while  suffering  the  pangs  of  hunger,  he 
was  moved  to  turn  the  stones  into  bread.  To  hu- 
man experience  this  seems  like  foolishness.  To 
give  it  meaning  we  must  assume  that  Christ  be- 
lieved at  least  that  such  power  was  committed  to 


22S  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

him.  Given  infinite  power,  and  there  is  no  more 
reason  for  wonder  at  the  direct  turning  of  stones 
into  bread  than  there  is  for  its  production  through 
the  indirect  agencies  of  nature.  We  can  no  more 
really  understand  how  the  seed  in  the  soil  trans- 
forms inorganic  matter  into  the  nutrient  grain, 
which  we  make  into  bread,  than  if  this  were  done 
by  the  immediate  fiat  of  God.  Life  is  the  mys- 
terious potency  which  does  literally  turn  the  stones 
into  bread,  and  the  process  of  nature  is  as  inscru- 
table as  any  other. 

But  suppose  even  that  such  miraculous  power 
were  delegated  to  Christ,  should  he  have  used  it 
for  such  sentient  and  merely  personal  end?  In- 
temperance and  bodily  excess  reside  in  the  sensuous 
nature  particularly,  and  certainly  the  Son  of  Man 
—  the  ideal  man  —  must  bring  this  under  subjec- 
tion if  he  was  to  become  the  leader  of  mankind. 
By  resisting  the  temptation  to  yield  to  his  pas- 
sion, Christ  enforces  the  true  law  of  temperance. 
To  master  ourselves  requires  severe  and  constant 
restraint.  A  single  enemy  within  the  citadel  may 
be  more  formidable  than  an  army  without.  Our 
worst  enemy  is  always  within.  Christ  in  this  in- 
stance was  tempted,  not  to  intemperance,  but  to 
violate  the  law  of  self-control  upon  which  all  tem- 
perance is  based.  His  need  was  great,  but  the 
demand  of  the  moral  law  was  greater.  To  have 
violated  this  law  would  have  been  to  sin. 

In  overcoming  evil  temptation  Christ  exhibited 
a  moral  potency  far  greater  than  turning  stones 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  223 

into  bread,  for  thereby  he  ruled  his  own  spirit. 
If  he  had  been  weak  and  incapable  of  governing 
his  own  impulses,  it  is  evident  he  could  not  have 
ruled  in  the  lives  of  others.  The  secret  of  mas- 
tery is  self-control.  His,  therefore,  is  an  example 
of  the  highest  moral  achievement,  and  an  ideal  for 
men.  To  have  turned  stones  into  bread  would 
have  filled  the  world  with  wonder,  but  it  would  have 
accomplished  nothing  of  universal  significance  or 
of  lasting  benefit ;  it  would  have  had  no  meaning 
for  mankind.  But  for  him  to  have  subjected  his 
own  passions,  been  true  to  principles,  and  obedient 
to  the  highest  moral  demands,  was  to  give  to  men 
an  everlasting  benefaction.  His  action  was  the 
most  exalted  possible,  and  stands  as  a  universal 
law  of  life,  transcending  all  conceivable  ulterior 
ends. 

It  is  certain  that  Christ  has  been  the  world's 
inspiration  as  well  as  consolation.  That  he  was 
tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
sin,  has  heartened  men  to  be  brave  in  the  struggle 
with  evil.  He  has  been  our  human  helper.  We 
are  weak  at  best,  and  need  the  force  of  great  ex- 
ample. When  we  see  the  lack  of  rational  self-con- 
trol, the  gross  indulgence  and  utter  corruption 
of  men's  lives,  then  does  the  supreme  law  of  Christ 
appear  with  forceful  significance.  Hunger  and 
thirst,  like  all  other  physical  passions,  have  their 
beneficent  aspects  as  provisions  for  our  well-be- 
ing; but  when  they  are  prostituted  to  the  vulgar 
end   of   gluttony   and   intoxication,    they   become 


224  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

worse  than  contemptible.  When  men  live  to  eat 
and  drink,  instead  of  eating  and  drinking  to  live, 
the  spectacle  is  repulsive  and  disgusting.  But 
there  is  a  law  of  requital  in  all  conduct,  and  nature 
soon  presents  her  bill  which  never  goes  to  protest. 
Unfortunately,  there  seems  to  be  an  inertia  in  life 
which,  when  once  man  has  gone  wrong,  carries 
him  ever  in  the  same  direction  with  increased  ac- 
celeration, and  it  is  ever  harder  for  him  to  re- 
turn to  the  paths  of  rectitude.  But  in  life  we 
have  to  profit  by  experience,  and  if  man  falls,  the 
only  sensible  thing  is  to  get  up  and  try  again.  It 
is  only  he  who  is  willing  to  make  mistakes  that  will 
ever  learn  not  to  make  them. 

Finally,  Christ  is  represented  to  have  answered 
the  tempter  in  the  highest  words  of  Hebrew  wisdom 
relative  to  sensuous  need,  and  to  have  given  them 
sublime  significance  in  the  face  of  suffering: 
"  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every 
word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  ^ 
And  nothing  is  truer  than  this  fact ;  for  although 
man  requires  bread  in  order  to  live,  he  must  also 
have  spiritual  possessions  to  meet  the  intelligent 
demands  of  his  nature.  Bread  is  the  symbol  of 
physical  need,  and  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil  because  it  stands  for  food  and  all  other 
material  necessities.  Hunger  and  thirst  are  the 
tragic  facts  at  the  basis  of  human  history.  But 
man  really  lives  no  more  by  bread  than  he  does 
by  gravity  or  any  other  law  of  nature.  From  a 
4  St.  Matt.  4:4.    Cf.  Deut.  8:3. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  S25 

mere  sensuous  existence  man  is  called  to  the  higher 
life  of  the  spirit,  to  intelligent  comprehension,  aes- 
thetic appreciation,  and  moral  achievement.  Per- 
fection of  truth,  beauty,  and  goodness  —  these  are 
the  words  "  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of 
God."  And  man  can  not  live,  in  any  high  sense, 
without  this  "  bread  of  life." 

The  consummation  of  man's  life,  therefore, 
must  be  found  in  his  spiritual  nature.  The  temp- 
tation of  Christ  was  a  struggle  within  his  soul  to 
preserve  his  spiritual  integrity.  His  triumph  was 
the  mastery  of  himself.  And  when  men  subject 
themselves  to  this  inner  law  of  life  no  outer  temp- 
tation can  overcome  them.  "  'Tis  one  thing  to  be 
tempted,  another  thing  to  fall."  ^ 

The  first  temptation  of  Christ,  then,  was  a 
struggle  between  the  sensuous  nature  and  the  ra- 
tional nature.  It  is  the  embodiment  of  the  picture 
which  the  apostle  Paul  draws  of  the  warfare  be- 
tween the  natural  man  and  the  spiritual  man.  Ac- 
cordingly we  have  now  to  make  a  critical  examina- 
tion of  the  claims  of  the  sensuous  nature  as 
over  against  the  spiritual  nature,  with  the  aim  of 
giving  each  its  just  and  proper  standing. 

The  senses  have  always  been  regarded  as  the 
chief  source  of  temptation.  This  has  its  founda- 
tion in  the  nature  of  human  experience.  The 
pleasures  and  pains  of  sensibility  are  more  vivid 
and  intense,  and  therefore  more  directly  and  eas- 
ily realized  than  any  others.     They  are  always  at 

5  Shakespeare :  "Measure  for  Measure,"  Act  II,  Sc.  1. 


226  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

hand  without  great  effort,  and  being  of  a  passively 
receptive  character,  require  little  endeavor  for 
their  indulgence.  It  is  merely  a  matter  of  their 
excitation,  for  the  most  part  dependent  upon  ex- 
ternal stimulus,  and  the  given  function  results. 

The  attainment  of  rational  life,  on  the  other 
hand,  requires  the  active  expenditure  of  much  ef- 
fort. It  becomes  possible  only  by  slow  and  toil- 
some growth,  and  comes  to  any  high  realization 
only  by  the  most  strenuous  and  persistent  en- 
deavor. For  this  reason  it  is  the  most  common  sin 
of  omission  that  men  neglect  the  higher  life  of 
thought  and  fruits  of  the  spirit,  and  instead  sink 
down  into  a  life  of  sensuality.  Hence  our  human- 
ity is  stunted  and  blighted,  rarely  unfolding  into 
the  fullness  of  its  possibilities.  It  may  be  said 
that  man  is  fitted  for  the  rational  life,  and  the 
senses  are  only  elemental  thereto.  Accordingly, 
those  who  remain  only  on  the  plane  of  the  senses 
and  find  their  pleasure  and  enjoyment  therein, 
have  never  really  become  men,  but  remain  in  the 
kindergarten  stage  of  life.  This  is  the  inevitable 
fate  of  the  indolent  minded.  Rational  life  de- 
mands earnest  activity. 

It  may  be  well,  however,  always  to  remember 
that  the  senses  are  the  spontaneous  condition  of 
all  well-being.  Thus  for  example,  pleasure  and 
pain  are  the  elemental  means  of  self-preservation. 
Pleasure  generally  means  that  we  have  secured  an 
adjustment  of  our  lives  to  the  external  world  in 
such  manner  as  to  be  conducive  to  our  well-being; 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  227 

whereas  pain  generally  indicates  the  lack  of  such 
adjustment,  and  is  the  warning  of  danger  to  our 
well-being.  Likewise  it  is  pleasure  and  pain,  which 
in  their  last  analysis  go  back  to  the  primary 
senses,  that  give  all  distinctions  in  ethics ;  things 
are  good  or  bad  in  accordance  with  their  capacity 
to  result  in  either  the  one  or  the  other.  In  fact, 
our  lives  are  all  grounded  in  certain  primary  im- 
pulses which  come  largely  from  the  sense  plane, 
and  the  whole  rational  development  is  by  a  work- 
ing over  of  these  sense  impulses  into  rational 
forms.  All  the  objective  or  empirical  sciences  go 
back  to  the  senses  for  their  data.  They  primarily 
depend  upon  correct  observation  and  exact  ex- 
perimentation for  the  facts  and  principles  with 
which  they  begin ;  and  all  scientific  theory  which  is 
worth  anything  at  all  must  be  completely  consist- 
ent with  the  observed  facts  in  the  case.  And  we 
must  further  recognize  that  any  theory  which  does 
not  so  conform  to  the  facts  as  given  in  universal 
experience  can  have  no  rational  standing  at  all. 
Likewise  ethics  and  sociology,  as  well  as  religion, 
must  go  back  to  this  same  touchstone  of  depar- 
ture;  although  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  exact 
data  in  these  cases  are  not  so  evidently  a  matter 
of  objective  determination.  Nevertheless,  they  all 
depend  upon  the  great  universal  human  impulses 
and  passions,  and  consistently  with  them  must 
construct  whatever  theories  may  seem  best  adapted 
to  their  rational  explanation. 

It  is  evident  then  that  these  sentient  appetites 


^28  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

and  passions  are  natural  and  God-given.  They 
are  accordingly  the  source  of  great  blessing  within 
their  legitimate  and  rational  use ;  but  it  is  a  strik- 
ing thing  that  the  violation  of  their  normal  func- 
tion turns  them  instead  into  the  instruments  of 
cursing,  of  pain,  and  of  death.  In  this  connection 
we  have  the  striking  paradox :  that  which  gives  the 
greatest  pleasure  may  likewise  give  the  greatest 
pain  and  misery.  Thus  we  have  in  our  own  keep- 
ing both  heaven  and  hell.  The  legitimate  use  of 
every  sense  of  which  we  are  capable  is  evidently  di- 
vinely intended ;  and  it  is  only  against  the  abuse 
of  these  capacities  that  the  penalty  of  the  law  is 
executed.  This  further  finds  its  exemplification  in 
the  fact  that  over-functioning  results  in  the  inca- 
pacity for  pleasure,  and  the  consequence  is  pain 
instead,  a  deadness  or  atrophy  which  makes  in- 
capable real  response  to  either  pleasure  or  pain, 
and  which  is  the  most  certain  index  of  decay  and 
destruction.  Nature  thus  automatically  puts  up 
its  danger  signals,  and  whoever  disregards  them 
is  irretrievably  lost.  Those  who  commit  crime 
against  her  are  punished  without  mercy.  None 
can  escape  her  law. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
sense  pleasure,  as  such,  cannot  rightly  be  made  the 
end  or  purpose  of  life.  Indeed,  it  has  always  been 
seen  that  a  life  given  over  too  exclusively  to  pleas- 
ure and  the  sensibilities  was  gravely  endangered. 
For  when  pleasure  is  made  the  supreme  end  of  life, 
its  intoxicating  effect  seems  to  detract  from  all 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  229 

serious  and  constructive  activity,  and  the  result 
is  deterioration,  or  the  ultimate  destruction  of  our 
noblest  powers,  upon  which  our  highest  and  real 
life  must  depend.  There  is  consequently  a  weak- 
ening of  life  in  general.  Hence  there  is  not  the 
fulfillment  of  which  our  powers  are  the  prophecy ; 
there  is  a  withering  of  the  bud  which  had  promise 
of  full-blowing. 

Strangely  enough,  human  life  is  rarely  equita- 
bly and  rationally  balanced.  Throughout  all  his- 
tory, as  well  as  in  individual  lives,  we  find  a  strange 
admixture  of  the  rational  and  the  irrational.  For 
the  most  part  human  life  is  narrow  in  its  outlook 
upon  the  problem  of  existence,  and  therefore  is 
prejudiced  and  one-sided  in  its  view.  The  pendu- 
lum of  thought  has  swung  from  one  extreme  to  the 
other,  in  profound  ignorance  perhaps  of  the  right- 
ful claims  of  both  views.  So  universally  has  this 
been  the  situation  that  one  is  reminded  of  the  wit- 
ticism of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who  observed 
that  the  way  to  reconcile  contradictions  is  to  main- 
tain both  sides  stoutly. 

Relative  to  pleasure  as  the  end  of  life,  this  situa- 
tion is  well  illustrated  in  the  contentions  of  the 
Cynics  and  the  Cyrenaics.  The  former  sought  to 
eliminate  pleasure  entirely,  as  being  degrading  and 
as  perturbing  to  real  serenity  and  peace  of  mind. 
The  wise  man  will  shun  all  outer  pleasure  and  find 
his  life  only  in  the  strength  of  inner  virtue.  The 
Cyrenaics,  on  the  other  hand,  held  that  pleasure 
was  the  only  reason  for  existence,  and  that  the 


230  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

wise  man  will  seek  to  get  the  most  pleasure  possible 
out  of  it.  It  is  true  that  in  their  best  estate  they 
made  a  distinction  between  sense  and  rational 
pleasures,  and  set  the  rational  pleasures  above 
those  of  the  senses,  yet  in  practice  their  doctrine 
resulted  in  a  life  of  gross  sensuality  and  degrada- 
tion. The  Cynics  shut  out  all  comforts,  outer 
good  fortune  and  well-being;  the  Cyrenaics  made 
these  the  only  end  of  life. 

To  our  modern  mind  both  of  these  views  are  ex- 
treme. Partisan  thought  and  action,  however,  as 
we  have  seen,  is  the  pronounced  characteristic  of 
human  life.  It  is  self-evident  that  both  of  these 
views  have  within  them  legitimate  principles  of 
practice.  Strength  of  virtuous  life  within  is  the 
rational  demand  of  mind ;  and  pleasure,  both  of 
the  senses  and  of  the  rational  nature,  is  the  normal 
and  desirable  consequence  of  right  action.  Thus 
both  schools  of  thought  only  emphasize  indispen- 
sable principles  of  human  living.  They  are  like 
the  story  of  the  two  Greeks  who  fought  over  the 
color  of  a  shield,  the  one  contending  that  it  was 
red  and  the  other  that  it  was  white ;  after  exhaust- 
ing themselves  they  bethought  to  examine  the  shield 
itself,  and  on  doing  so  discovered  that  one  side  of 
it  was  red  and  the  other  white.  Men  have  such  in- 
tellectual limitations  by  nature  or  constitution,  but 
rather  more  by  habit,  that  they  are  largely  incapa- 
ble of  viewing  any  problem  except  from  a  very  nar- 
row standpoint ;  they  see  but  a  small  segment  of 
the  world  at  a  given  time,  and  so  come  to  very  par- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  231 

tial  and  imperfect  conceptions  of  the  whole.  Only 
by  enlarged  vision  can  the  problems  of  life  be  re- 
solved. The  contentions  of  philosophy,  the  dis- 
tractions of  parties,  the  universal  confusion  of 
thought,  all  are  the  result  of  considering  only  par- 
tial factors  in  the  case,  and  the  trying  to  make 
them  expressive  of  the  whole. 

It  must  be  evident  to  all  that  the  pleasurable 
has  its  legitimate  place,  and  that  life  would  be 
pretty  colorless  and  barren  without  it.  Neverthe- 
less, because  a  life  given  over  to  pleasure  has  a 
tendency  to  prodigality  and  deterioration,  there 
has  always  been  a  suspicion  of  the  simply  pleasur- 
able. This  has  had  its  most  significant  emphasis 
in  relation  to  religion.  Thus  the  Puritans  seemed 
to  feel  that  there  was  something  sinful  about  pleas- 
ure ;  there  was  something  inherently  wrong  in  its 
very  nature.  But  it  must  be  evident  to  all  that  in 
this  they  were  mistaken.  In  so  far  as  it  was  not  a 
mere  traditional  and  theoretical  belief,  it  was  but  a 
crude  interpretation  of  the  biblical  injunctions 
against  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  In  practice,  it  was 
a  protest  against  the  ever  too  prevalent  disposition 
to  give  the  senses  and  their  resultant  pleasures 
an  undue  prominence  in  life,  and  the  consequent 
insobriety  in  connection  therewith.  It  was  a  war 
upon  the  exclusive  and  over-prominent  life  of  sen- 
suality. But  apart  from  this  underlying  truth 
in  their  position,  their  fanatical  notion  that  to 
wear  buttons  on  the  coat,  feathers  in  the  hat,  or 
gloves  on  the  hands,  was  to  be  unmistakably  of 


232  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

the  synagogue  of  Satan  can  be  viewed  only  as  a 
militant  type  of  pious  affectation. 

With  them,  protest  against  fashion  became  the 
fashion ;  lack  of  style  was  the  style.  As  with  the 
Quakers,  the  kingdom  of  God  rested  upon  dress 
and  address.  But  fortunately  the  native  good 
sense  of  the  race  has,  for  the  most  part,  very  suc- 
cessfully withstood  the  encroachments  of  artificial 
caste.  It  has  always  found  a  legitimate  place  for 
the  comfortable  and  the  useful,  as  well  as  for  the 
simply  beautiful.  There  is  no  particular  virtue  in 
being  miserable.  There  may  be  times  indeed  when 
the  despairing  spirit  may  feel  like  putting  on  sack- 
cloth and  ashes,  but  in  reality  these  trappings  only 
make  a  bad  matter  worse.  The  recluse  in  his  clois- 
ter may  crucify  the  flesh,  but  this  in  reality  can 
never  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  hungry  heart. 
The  external  is  only  incidental.  Our  souls  shall 
be  desolate  so  long  as  we  are  concerned  about  anise 
and  cummin  to  the  neglect  of  the  weightier  mat- 
ters of  the  law.  In  fact,  the  truth  must  be  that  if 
the  spirit  be  awake  and  appreciative,  comfort  and 
utility  are  but  added  facilities  to  ideal  life,  while 
the  things  of  real  beauty  are  a  joy  forever.  The 
notion  that  sin  and  evil  can  inhere  in  these  outer 
accessories  of  life  is  a  delusion  of  intelligence  or  a 
moral  aberration.  Legitimate  pleasures  are  in  the 
divine  order  of  things. 

Back  of  this  general  attitude  toward  the  sensu- 
ous pleasures  also  stands  the  stern  demand  for  seri- 
ousness in  the  business  of  life.     Experience  bears 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  233 

down  upon  us  most  forcefully  the  grim  fact  that 
the  great  issues  of  our  existence  will  stand  no  tri- 
fling with.  There  is  no  excellence  without  great 
labor,  and  mere  devotion  to  pleasure  results  in  an 
effeminacy  which  inevitably  disqualifies  for  real 
success.  It  is  this  commanding  aspect  of  life 
which  in  all  time  has  led  men  to  judge  that  serious- 
ness and  even  a  sorrowful  mind  are  surer  condi- 
tions of  attaining  to  a  rich  and  full  existence  than 
are  pleasure  and  frivolity.  This  was  evidently  the 
conception  of  the  author  of  Ecclesiastes  when  he 
wrote :  "  It  is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourn- 
ing than  to  go  to  the  house  of  feasting  —  and  the 
heart  of  the  wise  is  in  the  house  of  mourning;  but 
the  heart  of  fools  is  in  the  house  of  mirth."  ^ 
Thus  sorrow  is  regarded  as  better  than  laughter ; 
for  by  the  sadness  of  the  countenance  the  heart  is 
made  better.  Sorrow  solemnizes  the  heart,  and 
calls  the  mind  unto  serious  reflection ;  whereas  triv- 
ial and  laughing  matters  only  make  more  loose  the 
flabby  tendons  of  the  mind.  Sorrow  makes  us  gird 
up  our  spiritual  loins  for  the  greater  endeavor 
and  realization  of  the  aims  of  life,  and  the  serious 
determination  of  bringing  our  purposes  to  success- 
ful issue;  whereas  frivolous  things  relax  the  will, 
and  make  irresolution  more  irresolute.  It  was 
from  this  fact  that  old  Antisthenes,  the  Cynic,  used 
to  say:  "I  would  rather  be  mad  than  be  glad." 
Accordingly  he  put  before  himself  and  his  follow- 
ers the  laborious  life  of  Hercules  as  an  ideal  pat- 
6  Ecclesiastes  7 : 2-4. 


S34  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

tern.  He  despised  all  beauty  and  joy;  they  de- 
tained him  from  his  goal. 

That  there  is  an  element  of  truth  and  great  force 
in  the  foregoing  view  of  life  must  be  granted ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  but  readily  appear  to 
all  that  it  again  maintains  a  one-sided  conception. 
That  seriousness  is  the  one  condition  of  real  ac- 
complishment in  life,  and  that  even  sorrow  may 
bring  the  mind  and  heart  to  a  truer  realization  of 
duty  cannot  at  all  be  questioned ;  and  yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  a  true  saying  that :  "  A  merry 
heart  doeth  good  like  a  medicine."  ^  It  is  true 
that  joy  and  pleasure  have  just  as  legitimate  a 
place  in  life  as  do  sorrow  and  hardship.  Both 
alike  are  essential  in  the  enriching  school  of  life. 
Were  it  not  for  the  relaxation  which  comes  from 
our  merry  moments,  the  heart  would  break.  Seri- 
ousness and  hardness  unmitigated  would  mean 
madness.  The  truth  is  that  human  nature  is  capa- 
ble of  all  the  heights  and  the  depths  of  emo- 
tion and  feeling,  sorrowful  as  well  as  joyful;  they 
both  in  due  time  and  place  perform  the  most  benefi- 
cent function.  The  mistake  of  the  philosophers 
has  been  that  they  have  sought  to  reduce  man's 
life  to  a  simple  equation,  or  make  it  conform  to 
some  preconceived  single  formula,  whereas  his  life 
is  really  compounded  of  a  rich  variety  of  legiti- 
mate impulses  and  passions,  all  of  which  demand 
proper  recognition  within  their  rightful  sphere. 
We  must  consider  life,  therefore,  as  we  find  it,  not 

TProv.  17:22. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  235 

as  we  preconceive  it  to  be.  We  do  not  make  it  in 
its  elements,  but  find  it  ready  made. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  then  must  be  that 
the  life  of  the  senses  and  pleasure  are  not  the  end 
of  life,  but  rather  that  pleasure  should  be  a  result 
that  attends  all  worthy  life.  As  such,  pleasure 
has  its  inalienable  claim  to  recognition.  Indeed, 
life  could  not  go  on  without  it  in  this  sense ;  for 
the  right  and  wrong  conduct  of  life  can  only  be 
determined  by  the  tendency  of  an  action  to  yield  a 
pleasurable  or  painful  outcome.  As  pleasure  is 
the  basis  of  the  law  of  self-preservation,  so  likewise 
it  is  the  criterion  of  all  well-being.  But  at  this 
point  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  distinction  between 
pleasures.  We  have  spoken  largely  of  those  pas- 
sions and  pleasures  which  are  based  upon  the 
senses.  These  may  be  characterized  as  the  lower 
sesthetic  pleasures.  But  over  against  these  may  be 
placed  the  higher  pleasures  of  the  intellect  and  the 
will,  which  are  a  product  of  the  rational  life. 
These  have  always  been  regarded  as  of  a  more  re- 
fined nature  and  of  deeper  content  than  the  mere 
sense  pleasures.  It  is  evident  that  these  higher 
pleasures  furnish  the  ideals  of  life  and  give  it  its 
richest  content.  The  color  and  beauty  of  exist- 
ence must  be  wrought  out  here. 

From  this,  the  sensibilities  are  seen  to  be  of  a 
somewhat  complex  character.  They  have  a  two- 
fold source :  first,  those  resulting  from  some  bodily 
condition  occasioned  by  external  stimulus,  or  by 
a  state  of  the  body  itself;  second,  those  having 


S36  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

only  a  mental  source  which  arise  only  from  con- 
ceptions in  the  mind  itself,  or  from  mental  states 
growing  out  of  the  association  of  ideas.  They 
spring  directly  from  the  constitution  of  the  mind, 
or  from  the  form  of  mental  activity.  They  are 
passive  feelings  in  distinction  from  desires,  and  we 
designate  them  as  emotions.  Here  we  find  the. rich- 
est field  of  life.  Even  the  sensuous  arts  themselves 
become  potent  only  in  proportion  as  they  become 
instruments  of  thought,  and  therefore  stir  the 
emotions.  It  is  for  this  reason  also  that  the 
drama  surpasses  all  other  forms  of  art ;  it  aims 
to  be  the  mirror  of  real  life ;  other  forms  of  litera- 
ture can  only  approach  what  it  seeks  fully  to  rep- 
resent. Furthermore,  all  forms  of  art  find  their 
goal  only  in  so  far  as  they  attain  rational  warrant 
and  emotional  approval.  In  this  manner  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  mind  are  set  above  those  of  the  senses. 
Music,  bereft  of  the  thought  which  it  seeks  to  ex- 
press and  the  consequent  emotions  which  it  kindles, 
would  be  only  pleasurable  noise ;  it  is  thought  and 
emotion  which  makes  it  a  moving  power.  Like- 
wise in  sculpture  and  painting,  their  effect  is  not 
simply  in  form  and  color,  but  rather  in  the  char- 
acteristic and  dominant  ideas  which  they  embody. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  thing  itself,  but  what  the  mind 
reads  into  it,  that  gives  it  value  and  meaning.  The 
sensuous  impulses,  therefore,  must  be  regulated 
and  governed  by  reflection  and  thought ;  the  ra- 
tional pleasures  must  impose  the  law  of  accepta- 
bility upon  all  others. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  237 

We  have  already  seen  ^  that  the  sensuous  na- 
ture has  been  identified  with  the  "  flesh,"  and  the 
body,  accordingly,  has  been  regarded  as  the  special 
source  of  all  temptation  and  sin.  So  long  as  the 
*'  flesh  "  is  used  as  a  symbol  to  typify  the  life  of 
sensuousness,  and  sin  in  connection  therewith,  it  is 
admissible,  but  always  with  the  understanding  that 
it  is  only  such.  Upon  closer  reflection  we  recog- 
nize that  the  body  is  only  an  instrument  of  the 
senses,  and  that  in  the  last  analysis  conscious  sen- 
sation is  a  matter  of  the  reacting  mind.  Bodily 
sensibility  can  result  only  from  nervous  activity, 
which,  in  turn,  can  consist  only  of  motion ;  but  mo- 
tion of  any  kind  has  no  likeness  whatever  to  sensa- 
tion. Sensation  is  a  reaction  of  the  mind  upon  the 
given  nervous  action,  and  there  can  be  no  sensation 
without  this  reaction.  Even  sentient  pleasures, 
therefore,  are  not  so  much  a  matter  of  the  body  as 
of  the  mind.  The  body  may  be  the  instrument, 
but  mind  is  the  causal  agent. 

Hence,  the  notion  that  the  body  is  the  source 
of  evil  and  sin  is  inadmissible,  for  they  are 
possibilities  of  the  free  spirit  only,  and  the 
body  apart  from  the  spirit  is  incapable  of  any- 
thing. In  fact,  sin  is  of  a  purely  ethical  char- 
acter and  is  conditioned  by  the  freedom  of 
man's  will,  having  no  necessary  relation  to 
the  body.  Angels  are  represented  to  have  com- 
mitted sin  and  were  cast  out  of  heaven,  yet 
they  are  thought  of  as  purely  spiritual.     Body 

8  Cf.  Chapter  III. 


238  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

without  mind  is  incapable  of  sensibility ;  and,  al- 
though mind  without  body  is  unknown  to  us,  yet 
it  may  be  regarded  as  a  possibility, —  otherwise 
conscious  immortality  would  be  unthinkable,  and 
God  as  Spirit  could  not  exist.  Both  of  these  con- 
ceptions, indeed,  may  be  regarded  as  hypothet- 
ical ;  nevertheless  we  have  seen  that  they  are  neces- 
sary postulates  of  the  world-system,  and  accord- 
ingly most  weighty  matters  of  belief.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  the  subject  here  laps  over  into  the 
borderland  of  mystery.  Of  pure  spirits  we  have 
no  knowledge.  But  since  sin  is  of  a  purely  ethical 
character,  and  the  moral  is  but  a  function  of  free 
intelligence,  we  may  affirm  with  assurance  that  sin 
is  only  a  product  of  the  living  spirit. 

Finally,  since  metaphysics  makes  essential  dual- 
ism untenable,  it  is  evident  that  the  body  cannot  be 
literally  at  war  with  mind.  The  absolute  reality, 
we  have  had  occasion  to  think,  is  spiritual  in  es- 
sence, which  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  body  has 
no  proper  causality  in  it.  Accordingly,  the  body 
cannot  be  the  real  source  of  evil,  temptation,  and 
sin.  These  may,  in  fact,  be  prompted  from  with- 
out by  stimuli  from  the  bodily  and  phenomenal  or- 
der, but  even  they  are  determined  and  chosen  by 
the  mind,  according  to  its  varying  necessities. 
Mind  is  the  causal  ground,  and  freedom  of  intelli- 
gence and  will  is  the  principle,  upon  which  temp- 
tation and  sin  are  conceivable  at  all.  Whatever 
may  be  the  ultimate  metaphysical  nature  of  the 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  239 

body,  we  must  find  the  dynamic  reality  of  all  ma- 
terial things,  back  of  their  appearance,  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  Absolute  Being.  And  this,  we  have 
found  reason  to  believe,  is  spiritual  rather  than 
material.  Temptation  and  sin,  therefore,  instead 
of  being  fruits  of  the  body,  are  the  products  of  the 
mind's  own  reactions ;  and  every  passion  and  intem- 
perance find  their  fountain  in  it. 

The  conclusion  is  that  the  functions  and  pleas- 
ures of  the  sensuous  nature  have  a  most  useful  and 
legitimate  sphere  in  life,  to  which  full  recognition 
must  be  given.  But  such  pleasures,  at  best,  are 
transient  and  liable  to  grossness,  and  are  not  suf- 
ficient to  give  a  high  and  worthy  end  to  life.  Be- 
cause of  their  spontaneity,  their  indulgence  is 
likely  to  be  impulsive,  with  the  constant  temptation 
to  immoderation.  Consequently,  the  sensuous  na- 
ture must  be  constantly  supervised  and  regulated 
by  the  higher  demands  of  reason.  Only  when  the 
sensuous  pleasures  are  worked  over  and  subordi- 
nated to  the  rational  ends  of  life  can  they  find  their 
true  meaning.  The  pleasures  and  purposes  of  the 
rational  nature  of  man  alone  can  yield  an  abiding 
and  satisfying  goal  for  life.  Hence,  Christ,  in 
subjecting  his  temptation  of  momentary  sensuous 
gratification,  however  urgent  it  may  have  been,  to 
the  rational  law  of  self-control  and  obedience  to 
the  normal  order  of  life  and  the  world,  set  before 
men  a  universal  standard  of  action.  St.  Paul  him- 
self also  exemplifies  this  principle  of  conduct  when 


240  CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION 

he  declares :  "  But   I  keep   under   my  body,   and 
bring  it  into  subjection;  lest  that  by  any  means, 
when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should 
be  a  castaway."  ^ 
9  1  Cor.  9:27. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
TEMPTATION  OF  SELFISHNESS 


"  The  true  way  to  be  humble  is  not  to  stoop  till 
thou  art  smaller  than  thyself,  but  to  stand  at  thy  real 
height  against  some  higher  nature  that  shall  show 
thee  what  the  real  smallness  of  thy  greatest  great- 
ness is." 

Phillips  Brooks. 

"  Then  the  devil  taketh  him  up  into  the  holy  city, 
and  setteth  him  on  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  saith 
unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  son  of  God,  cast  thyself 
down:  for  it  is  written.  He  shall  give  his  angels 
charge  concerning  thee:  and  in  their  hands  they  shall 
bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot 
against  a  stone.  Jesus  said  unto  him,  It  is  written 
again.  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God." 

St.  Matthew  4:  5-7. 

"  When  the  will  would,  it  can  not;  because  when  it 
might,  it  would  not.  Therefore  by  an  evil  will  man 
loses  his  good  power." 

St.  Augustine,  "  De  Verb.  Apost." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
TEMPTATION  OF  SELFISHNESS 

In  seeking  the  motive-spring  of  this  temptation 
of  Christ,  we  have  to  turn  from  the  impulses  of  the 
sensuous  nature  to  a  consideration  of  the  passions 
of  selfishness.  From  outer  sense  we  turn  to  the 
inner  self. 

The  impulses  to  self-esteem  and  personal  ag- 
grandizement are  so  subtle  and  manifold  as  to  make 
difficult  their  characterization  by  a  single  notion. 
When  the  self  is  set  so  far  above  all  other  interests 
as  to  become  vulgarly  obtrusive,  Ave  term  it  ego- 
tism ;  and  temptation  in  relation  thereto  would  con- 
sist in  incitement  to  inordinate  self-glorification, 
pride,  and  vanity,  which  manifest  themselves  in  os- 
tentation, envy  and  jealousy.  The  unreasonable 
conceit  of  one's  superiority  in  any  distinction  is 
usually  accompanied  with  correspondingly  con- 
temptuous feelings  towards  others.  Such  im- 
pulses, since  they  all  center  in  the  estimate  we  give 
to  the  self,  are  best  embodied  in  the  notion  of 
selfishness,  which  by  some  has  been  thought  to  be 
the  epitome  of  all  sins. 

When  Christ  was  tempted  to  cast  himself  down 

from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple  it  is  evident  that 

243 


244  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

there  could  have  been  no  practical  need  of  his  so 
doing,  for  the  same  means  were  available  for 
getting  down  as  there  had  been  for  getting  up. 
There  could  have  been,  therefore,  no  rational 
ground  for  such  act.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  no 
motive  could  have  prompted  such  impulse  except 
the  ignoble  one  of  selfish  vanity  and  personal  in- 
fatuation. The  only  purpose  could  have  been  to 
win  for  himself  the  adulation  and  homage  of  the 
gaping  people,  to  pamper  his  conceit  with  the 
cheap  plaudits  of  an  awesome  throng. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  scene  of  this 
temptation  was  at  Jerusalem,  perhaps  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  great  feast,  when  the  environs  of  the  Tem- 
ple were  crowded  with  worshipful  pilgrims.  The 
temptation  was  to  cast  himself  down  from  the  pin- 
nacle of  the  Temple  into  the  midst  of  the  people, 
and  thus  gain  their  instant  worship  and  acclaim. 
But  it  seems  evident  that  such  means  of  self-seek- 
ing for  public  flattery  would  have  been  beneath  the 
dignity  of  a  stage-player,  and  wholly  incommensu- 
rate with  the  character  of  Christ.  The  trans- 
parent integrity  of  his  nature  would  seem  to  make 
such  a  motive  impossible. 

We  have  said  impossible,  and  yet  we  are  to  un- 
derstand that  this  was  a  real  temptation  to  which 
Christ  was  subjected.  It  was  accordingly  not  only 
possible  but  actual.  We  have  laid  bare  in  this  in- 
cident, therefore,  the  weakness  of  Christ's  human- 
ity, which  is  like  to  that  in  our  own.  There  evi- 
dently came  to  him  the  same  passion  for  flattery 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  245 

and  self-exaltation  that  comes  to  all  men.  It  is 
not  unnatural  then  to  suppose  that  Christ  suffered 
just  such  temptation  as  is  recorded,  not  at  the  in- 
stigation of  a  personal  devil,  to  be  sure,  but  from 
the  inner  promptings  of  his  own  moral  nature. 
The  spirit  of  vainglory  which  it  implies  is  the  very 
essence  of  human  conceit. 

Supposing,  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  it  had 
been  possible  for  Christ  to  have  cast  himself  down 
before  the  multitude  without  injury,  at  one  stroke 
his  selfish  ambition  would  have  reached  its  highest 
realization.  The  plaudits  of  the  throng  would 
have  been  instant.  To  conquer  men  is  human ; 
but  to  conquer  the  world,  so  that  earth  and  sky 
obey  the  will,  is  divine.  Such  an  act,  therefore, 
would  have  been  far  more  signal  to  wondering 
mankind  than  any  other.  They  would  have  ad- 
judged it  as  magical  or  divine  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. As  the  people  were  ever  looking  for 
a  sign,  they  would  have  found  an  indubitable  one 
in  such  event,  and  Christ  would  have  been  at  once 
elevated  above  the  heroes  of  the  ages.  He  would 
by  this  means  have  obtained  immediate  deification. 

From  the  selfish  impulse  comes  the  inordinate 
seeking  after  flattery.  This  vanity  of  spirit  is 
not  only  greedy  to  receive  such  blandishments, 
but  is  also  ready  to  give  them,  especially  if  they 
redound  to  personal  profit.  This  may  extend  to 
the  profuse  adulation  of  political  thieves  in  the 
very  face  of  their  well-known  corruptions.  The 
veriest   traitors   of  their   country   have   now   and 


M6  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

again  been  heralded  as  its  saviors.  Infamy  has 
been  crowned.  Likewise  the  silliest  people  and 
the  most  inane  causes  have  been  lauded  for  the 
sake  of  factional  interest.  Mr.  Wagner,  in  his 
"  Simple  Life,"  has  well  pointed  out  the  turn  self- 
ish vanity  has  taken  in  the  case  of  personal  adver- 
tisement. The  rage  for  notoriety  does  not  surge 
through  cracked  brains  alone,  nor  merely  in  the 
world  of  charlatans  and  pretenders,  but  has 
/spread  abroad  in  all  the  domains  of  life.  "Poli- 
tics, literature,  even  science,  and  —  most  odious 
of  all  —  philanthropy  and  religion  are  infected. 
Trumpets  announce  a  good  deed  done,  and  souls 
must  be  saved  with  din  and  clamor."  ^  Even  ju- 
risprudence is  swayed  by  selfish  ends,  and  the  mur- 
derer may  go  free ;  while  homilies  are  trimmed 
to  suit  emergencies,  and  the  most  perverse  prac- 
tices are  made  to  appear  harmless.  The  itching 
craze  for  notoriety  is  contagious  and  has  spread 
the  world  over.      Selfish  impulse  is  universal. 

This  temptation  of  Christ  at  first  seems  foolish, 
and  unworthy  of  consideration ;  but  on  further 
examination  we  find  it  to  be  the  expression  of  a 
true  and  unique  type  of  temptation,  the  essence 
of  which  is  found  in  the  impulse  to  pride,  vanity 
and  self-seeking  aggrandizement,  or,  in  brief,  self- 
ishness. This  spirit  of  self-glorification  found 
classic  embodiment  in  the  celebrated  "  triumphs  " 
accorded  the  Roman  conquerors  when,  returning 
victorious,  they  received  the  acclaim  of  the  eternal 
1  "  The  Simple  Life,"  Chap.  9. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  247 

city,  with  all  the  pomp  and  splendor  the  imagination 
could  devise.  In  some  such  manner  the  spirit  of 
human  vanity  reaches  its  acme.  Christ's  temptation 
was  of  this  same  class,  and  typifies  the  universal 
love  of  men  for  self-exaltation  and  laudation.  The 
glorification  of  the  self  is  the  persistent  goal  of 
selfishness. 

But  over  against  the  fact  of  this  temptation  of 
Christ  we  now  must  inquire  as  to  what  would  have 
been  the  implications  of  the  possibility  of  his  cast- 
ing himself  down  from  the  Temple.  It  is  evident 
that  it  would  have  meant  the  suspending  or  over- 
coming of  the  law  of  gravity,  which,  according  to 
physical  necessity,  would  have  destroyed  the  uni- 
verse. In  no  instance  in  the  history  of  the  world 
have  ponderable  bodies  been  known  to  do  other 
than  fall,  with  accelerated  velocity,  when  released 
from  support.  The  only  exceptions  must  be  ef- 
fected by  artificial  agencies.  If  there  be  any  who 
think  they  may  defy  this  law,  they  may  attempt 
it  on  occasion,  and  they  will  come  off  "  wiser  but 
sadder  men."  The  cosmic  law  will  be  found  to  be 
no  respecter  of  persons.  It  is  related  of  one  of 
the  Millerites  of  central  Massachusetts,  some  fifty 
years  ago,  that  when  they  were  dressed  in  their 
white  robes  and  waiting  in  the  upper  room  for  the 
Lord  to  come  in  the  clouds,  becoming  over-zealous 
to  be  "  caught  up,"  he  made  as  if  to  glide  out  of 
the  window,  and  was  brought  to  the  earth  with  a 
thud.  The  infallible  world-order  will  jolt  sense 
into  men  if  they  will  possess  it  in  no  other  way. 


MS  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  and  if  there  be  any 
souls  who  have  not  been  converted  thereby,  they 
may  better  be. 

But  even  suppose  it  possible  for  Christ  to  have 
cast  himself  down  from  the  Temple  in  safety  by 
some  mysterious  agency,  "  angels  "  bearing  him 
up,  what  good  could  have  come  from  it?  Noth- 
ing serviceable  or  of  real  value  to  men  certainly, 
but  only  a  vainglorying  of  himself.  Hence,  even  if 
he  could  have  successfully  acted  upon  the  tempting 
impulse,  he  would  have  been  but  prostituting  his 
marvelous  powers  to  unworthy  and  ignoble  ends, 
which  would  have  robbed  him  of  all  honor.  If  it 
be  suggested  that  the  occasion  offered  to  Christ 
opportunity  to  make  witness  of  himself  and  his 
mission  in  the  world,  the  answer  must  be  that  such 
irrational  act  on  his  part,  prompted  by  whatever 
motive,  could  not  but  result  in  just  the  reverse 
outcome.  God  is  neither  honored  nor  revealed  to 
men  by  folly  and  infatuation,  but,  as  Christ  re- 
peatedly declared,  only  by  doing  the  will  of  God, 
and  the  keeping  His  law  inviolate.  With  all  the 
strength  of  his  moral  purpose,  therefore,  he 
turned  calmly  from  the  baser  impulse  into  the  way 
of  righteousness.  Had  he  yielded,  he  would  have 
entered  upon  a  course  of  abject  selfishness  and 
sin;  and  just  as  he  was  endowed  with  greater  pow- 
ers, to  so  much  the  lower  depths  would  he  have 
fallen.  The  sinfulness  of  sin  is  relative  to  the  in- 
telligence and  capacity  of  the  agent. 

We  have  seen  that  sin  is  the  loving  and  doing 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  249 

the  known  wrong.  Conscious  of  the  unworthy 
motives  that  must  rule  in  such  temptation,  we  see 
Christ  rise  masterfully  above  them.  He  seems  to 
have  entertained  in  his  mind  the  possibility  of  the 
temptation,  only  to  hate  and  renounce  it.  To 
have  done  otherwise  would  have  required  him  to 
have  abandoned  his  supreme  character  and  calling, 
which  was  morally  impossible.  By  humbling  him- 
self he  became  exalted.  It  is  also  a  striking  thing 
that  he  is  not  reported  to  have  wrought  any  mira- 
cles in  his  own  behalf,  but  only  in  behalf  of 
others.  Even  when  upon  the  cross,  it  was  said  of 
him :  "  He  saved  others,  himself  he  can  not 
save."  ^  In  this  instance  of  temptation,  least  of 
all,  could  there  have  been  justification  of  such  ac- 
tion. There  was  no  sufficient  motive,  so  he  delib- 
erately put  it  aside.    . 

It  appears,  however,  that  in  this  temptation  of 
Christ,  in  common  with  the  first  temptation,  there 
is  an  element  peculiar  to  himself  alone.  The  voice 
of  the  spirit  within  him  urged :  "  If  thou  be  the 
Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down."  Are  we  to  think 
that  there  was  question  in  the  mind  of  Christ  as  to 
his  sonship  ?  If  not,  why  the  doubting  "  if  "  ?  It 
seems  perfectly  credible  that  he  entertained  a  cer- 
tain belief  of  his  fulfilling  the  Messianic  prophe- 
cies, and  yet  that  there  remained  with  him  a  sus- 
picious doubt,  and  the  temptation  was  of  the  na- 
ture of  an  impulse  to  prove  to  himself  that  he 
could  command  and  the  forces  of  the  world  would 
2  St.  Msltt.  27:4$?. 


^50  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

obey  him,  and,  if  so,  thus  remove  all  further  in- 
credulity. This  view,  which  makes  his  purpose 
self-revelation,  is  more  worthy  of  him  than  the 
suggestion  that  he  believed  himself  to  be  the  Son 
of  God,  and  was  moved  to  avail  himself  of  that 
opportunity  to  make  himself  known  to  all  behold- 
ers in  a  spectacular  and  miraculous  manner.  In 
either  case,  however,  the  temptation  banters  his 
vanity.  Why  not,  he  seems  to  argue,  take  the 
short  cut  to  immediate  revelation  and  recognition ; 
why  not  bring  God  to  the  test  that  His  angels 
would  bear  him  up?  It  is  not  easy  to  resolve  so 
subtle  a  motive,  but  apart  from  these  suggestions 
there  seems  to  be  no  understanding  the  matter 
whatever. 

The  Psalmist  whom  the  devil  is  represented  as 
quoting  when  he  declares,  "  He  will  give  his  angels 
charge  over  you  to  bear  you  up,"  may  have  meant 
simply  to  present  in  poetical  phrase  the  general 
sustaining  power  of  God  as  exercised  in  behalf  of 
those  who  put  their  trust  in  Him.  And  in  just 
so  far  as  we  may  say  that  the  world  makes  for 
righteousness,  the  notion  is  certainly  valid.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  that  the  notion  rep- 
resents only  the  current  beliefs  in  miracle  so  com- 
mon to  that  unscientific  age,  which  put  its  faith 
largely  in  signs  and  wonders.  Magic  and  miracle 
were  the  natural  beliefs  common  among  primitive 
peoples,  and  were  believed  to  be  the  infallible  sign 
of  the  gods.  The  more  miraculous,  the  more  di- 
vine, seems  to  have  been  the  assumption.     What- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  251 

ever  was  difficult  to  men  was  believed  to  be  easy 
with  God,  and  consequently,  if  they  will  but  ally 
themselves  with  God,  He  will  surely  cause  to  dis- 
appear whatever  hinders  or  destroys  them.  All 
riddles  were  thus  easily  unraveled. 

That  God  will  cooperate  with  good  men  and  re- 
quite to  them  the  fruits  of  righteousness  is  indeed 
a  veritable  principle  of  the  moral  economy.  But 
that  He  will  save  us  from  all  our  troubles,  as  if  by 
magic,  if  we  only  put  our  trust  in  Him,  is  but  a 
fanciful  dream  of  the  imagination.  The  wish  is 
evidently  father  to  the  thought.  In  the  world  of 
reality  we  find  no  such  fact.  Good  men  are  sub- 
ject to  the  follies  of  their  ignorance  as  much  as 
others ;  it  is  a  world  of  common  law  and  order. 
God  sendeth  the  rain  alike  upon  the  just  and  the 
unjust.  Good  and  bad,  all  are  engulfed  in  the 
impartial  cosmic  forces.  God  will  not  do  for  men 
what  He  intends  that  they  should  do  for  them- 
selves. He  will  make  no  man  wise  who  is  indolent 
and  stupid ;  He  will  make  no  man  good  who  is 
trifling  and  inconstant.  Within  limits  we  must 
make  ourselves  whatsoever  we  will  be.  God  helps 
those  who  help  themselves.  We  are  co-workers 
together  with  Him,  and  we  might  almost  say  that 
even  He  can  not  help  those  who  will  not  help  them- 
selves. At  least  we  may  be  sure  He  will  not  help 
such.  Life  is  a  slow  and  steady  development,  and 
the  average  man  gets  impatient.  He  desires  some 
short-cut  road  to  the  goal,  whereby  he  may  avoid 
the    plodding,    weary    journey.     He    accordingly 


252  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

gambles  with  life,  and  hopes  that  luck  and  miracle 
will  bring  him  well-being.  The  notion  that  God 
will  vicariously  save  men  is  of  this  same  irrational 
character.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  explicitly  ex- 
horted to  work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling.^  And  we  have  the  assurance  that 
God  will  help  us  in  every  honest  endeavor,  and  give 
us  grace  sufficient  for  our  needs. 

Over  against  the  absurd  and  irrational  impli- 
cations of  Christ's  temptation  to  cast  himself 
down  from  the  Temple  stands  the  refreshing  san- 
ity of  his  refusing  to  yield  to  it.  In  so  doing, 
he  glorified  the  rational  life  and  made  it  conform 
to  the  universal  law  of  the  world.  His  wisdom 
is  seen  in  the  recognizing  that  the  abnormal  and 
miraculous  are  not  the  signs  of  God,  but  that  He 
is  truly  revealed  only  in  the  common  life  of  law 
and  reality.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  rational, 
not  the  irrational,  which  shows  forth  God.  Even 
supposing  that  Christ  possessed  something  of  the 
divine  nature,  he  could  have  manifested  it,  not  by 
magic  and  miracle,  but  only  by  faithful  obedience 
to  the  rational  laws  of  life.  Granting  any  pow- 
ers with  which  he  may  have  been  endowed,  to  have 
used  them  in  any  other  way  than  this  would  have 
been  to  dishonor  God  and  disparage  himself. 

The  miraculous  and  non-rational  is  no  longer, 

as  formerly  supposed,  the  attestation  of  God.     On 

the  contrary,  uniformity  of  order,  system,  and  law 

is  the  real  witness  of  God  in  the  world.     The  fact 

3  Phil.  2:12. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  253 

that  the  whole  world,  physical  and  mental,  is  re- 
ducible to  scientific  systems,  is  a  more  certain 
manifestation  of  the  existence  of  God  than  all  re- 
corded miracles.  The  world  being  intelligible,  we 
infer  that  its  Cause  must  be  intelligent ;  and  if  in- 
telligent, then  personal,  since  impersonal  intelli- 
gence is  unknown.  The  unity  of  cosmic  intelli- 
gence, therefore,  can  be  found  only  in  the  world- 
intelligence, —  that  is,  in  God.  Men  can  not  hope 
to  honor  God,  then,  by  ignorance  and  by  divesting 
themselves  of  reason  and  sense.  It  is  a  singular 
phenomena,  however,  that  a  peculiar  reverence  has 
been  shown  for  the  abnormal  and  irrational  when 
masquerading  in  the  garb  of  religion.  The  more 
utterly  senseless  the  practice,  the  more  likely  it  has 
been  to  receive  the  honor  of  special  sanctity. 
Thus  the  dirtiest  mendicant  has  been  thought  of 
as  more  religious  than  the  immaculate  saint ;  and 
the  most  fanatical  and  superstitious,  as  more  de- 
vout than  the  decorous  and  sane.  One  is  ashamed 
to  acknowledge  that  some  Christians  worship  on 
no  higher  plane  than  howling  dervishes,  shrieking 
and  falling  on  the  ground,  and  in  all  ways  acting 
no  better  than  heathen.  But  God  is  a  Rational 
Spirit,  and  can  be  acceptably  worshiped  only  in 
spirit  and  in  timth. 

The  characteristic  manner  in  which  Christ  meets 
this  tem.ptation  is  notable  in  that  again  he  en- 
forces the  highest  moral  precepts  known  to  the 
ancient  world,  and  thereby  exemplifies  their  rich- 
est striving  after  God.     "  Thou  shalt  not  tempt 


254  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

the  Lord  thy  God."  This  was  evidently  a  con- 
viction of  the  race  with  reference  to  presumptive 
and  irrational  challenges  of  God's  power  and  fa- 
vor. We  may  well  ask,  indeed,  is  it  possible  to 
tempt  God?  Of  course,  temptation  here  means 
simply  to  prove  whether  or  not  God  would  inter- 
pose a  miracle  in  his  behalf  for  such  vain  purpose. 
The  proposition  was  to  trifle  with  the  universal 
laws  of  the  world,  making  the  bantering  test  as  to 
whether  God  would  interfere  with  the  normal  con- 
sequences. In  being  moved  to  cast  himself  down 
from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple,  Christ  must  have 
presumed  that  God  would  suspend  the  universal 
law  of  gravity  and  let  him  down  lightly  to  the 
earth  without  hurt.  But  to  fly  thus  into  the  face 
of  infallible  natural  law  would  be  to  "  tempt  " 
God,  in  that  it  would  seek  to  call  into  action  His 
absolute  power,  not  only  for  irrational  purposes, 
but  also  apart  from  His  own  initiative.  Such 
attempt  to  command  the  will  of  God  would  be  sac- 
rilege. Had  even  Christ  attempted  it  he  must 
have  met  with  chagrin.  If  we  are  foolish  enough 
to  put  our  hands  in  the  fire,  we  need  not  expect 
that  God  will  interpose  a  miracle  to  prevent  our 
being  burned.  To  do  so  would  be  to  "  tempt  " 
God,  but  the  act  would  most  certainly  aff^ect  us 
and  not  Him.  To  suppose  that  we  need  take  no 
sanitary  precautions  when  pestilence  is  all  about 
us,  trusting  in  God  to  keep  us  from  contagion, 
would  be  to  "  tempt  "  God,  and  doubtless  result 
fatally    to    us.     As    late    as    1853,    according   to 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  255 

Buckle,  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  set  apart  a 
day  of  humiliation  and  prayer  to  overcome  the 
prevailing  cholera,  and  they  were  greatly  scandal- 
ized when  Lord  Palmerson  suggested  that  to  clean 
up  the  city  and  adopt  wise  sanitary  precautions 
would  be  more  effective.  He  counseled  them  to 
destroy  the  cause  of  disease  by  removing  filth  and 
by  improving  the  houses  of  the  poor ;  otherwise, 
he  said,  the  pestilence  will  be  sure  to  come  "  in 
spite  of  all  the  prayers  and  fastings  of  a  united 
but  inactive  nation."  That  God  will  not  inter- 
pose to  save  us  from  our  own  follies  has  now 
become  a  self-evident  truism.  In  seeking  to 
"  tempt  "  God,  we  bring  ourselves  into  contempt. 

We  must  next  note  that  all  possible  temptations 
of  selfish  human  nature  are  typified  and  symbolized 
in  this  second  temptation  of  Christ.  In  this 
again  he  was  tempted  in  all  ways  like  as  we  are. 
Every  possible  impulse  of  the  selfish  man  is  implied 
in  essence.  Yet  the  marvelous  fact  is  that  he  came 
through  it  all  without  sin.  In  this  case,  there- 
fore, as  everywhere,  Christ  stands  as  the  moral 
ideal.  In  him  this  temptation  is  lifted  up  into  the 
realm  of  the  universal,  and  its  law  revealed  as  ap- 
plicable to  all  persons  and  conditions.  Universal 
man,  so  to  speak,  is  found  in  him.  He  is  the  ideal 
man,  man  at  his  best.  As  the  head  of  the  race, 
therefore,  his  temptations  and  triumphs  are  repre- 
sentative. 

Christ  in  history  stands  as  the  perfection  for 
which  humanity  aspires.     To  have  lived  without 


^56  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

sin  is  indeed  the  acme  of  moral  attainment.  It 
may  be  thought  that  this  is  too  high  for  man  to 
seek.  It  is  true,  assuredly,  that  man  rarely 
reaches  the  ideal ;  that  which  is  perfect  has  not 
yet  come.  But  although  Christ  sets  before  us  the 
perfect  life  as  the  goal,  we  would  not  have  it  less, 
even  if  we  could.  Mr.  Wu  Ting  Fang,  one-time 
Chinese  ambassador  at  Washington,  in  various 
addresses  in  this  country  made  the  claim  that  Con- 
fucius put  before  men  a  religion  that  they  could 
attain  to,  whereas  Christ  taught  men  a  religion 
that  is  unrealizable,  one  they  could  not  live.  This 
is  undoubtedly  a  partial  truth.  The  religion  of 
Christ  sets  before  men  the  ideal  of  a  perfect  life, 
it  makes  luminous  that  far-off  divine  event  to 
which  all  creation  moves,  and  stands  as  the  goal 
to  which  all  men  fondly  look.  Like  every  ideal,  it 
is  not  easily  reached ;  and  yet  it  is  the  dream  of 
our  dreams  and  the  glory  of  our  race.  The  su- 
periority of  Christ  over  Confucius  is  at  this  very 
point.  He  alone  fully  fathomed  the  needs  of  the 
soul,  revealed  the  likeness  of  man  to  God,  and 
gave  assurance  to  life's  holiest  aspirations. 

It  is  just  because  Christ,  better  than  all  others, 
has  given  expression  to  men's  supreme  desires  that 
he  occupies  such  unique  place  in  their  affections. 
He  has  placed  our  standard  high  indeed,  but  no 
man  would  tear  it  down  even  in  the  least.  "  Be  ye 
therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect."  *  Perfect  truth,  beauty,  and 
4  St.  Matt.  5:48. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  257 

goodness  are  the  ideals  of  the  soul,  and  it  can 
never  be  satisfied  with  less.  It  must  be  admitted, 
however,  that  in  this  world  of  experience  actual 
attainment  of  the  ideal  is  a  relative  matter.  Per- 
fect truth  and  beauty  are  beyond  finite  possibil- 
ity ;  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  perfect  love  and  good- 
will are  within  our  power,  and  love  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law.  Furthermore,  love  is  the  very  essence 
of  religion,  the  love  of  God  and  man.  Even 
though  other  perfection  be  impossible,  yet,  since 
perfect  love  and  benevolence  are  attainable,  that 
which  is  most  divine  is  within  our  reach.  The 
best  of  all  truths  is :  God  is  Love.  To  love,  there- 
fore, is  to  be  like  God ;  and  that  which  is  morally 
perfect  may  be  a  personal  realization. 

Finally,  the  practical  lesson  should  not  be  over- 
looked that  just  as  Christ  overcame  the  tempta- 
tion of  pride  and  selfishness,  so  in  like  manner  are 
we  to  find  deliverance  from  evil.  We  shall  not  be 
spared  defeat  by  a  vain  trusting  in  the  help  of 
God  unless  we  have  the  good  sense  to  help  our- 
selves. If  we  sow  not,  we  shall  not  reap.  We 
should  herein  learn  that  there  is  but  one  way  to 
serve  and  honor  God :  namely,  by  obedience  to  His 
laws.  Through  these,  all  things  are  possible. 
All  the  forces  of  life  and  nature  are  at  our  com- 
mand, and  God  has  given  them  for  our  service ; 
they  have  existed  since  the  morning  stars  sang 
together,  but  we  have  been  slow  in  their  discovery 
and  in  subduing  them  for  our  use.  Not  by  mira- 
cle   shall    the    works    of    God    be    wrought,    but 


258  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

through  the  slow  developing  processes  of  His  in- 
fallible laws. 

Apart  from  the  shams  of  selfishness  and  pride, 
therefore,  it  is  our  privilege  to  enter  into  the  joys 
of  a  real  life.  The  genuine  inner  life  of  man  has 
its  own  great  worth,  and  its  possessor  requires  no 
external  praise.  Virtue  is  its  own  reward.  To 
possess  our  own  souls,  have  honor  within,  and  a 
conscience  void  of  offense  before  God  and  men  is 
greater  than  to  sit  upon  thrones  gained  by  craft 
and  perfidy.  Such  God  will  have  in  derision. 
It  turns  out  that  those  who  receive  the  most  lau- 
dation may  fail  to  have  their  names  written  in  the 
book  of  life ;  and  those  in  possession  of  the  simple 
inglorious  blessings  may  be  more  greatly  blessed. 
In  renouncing  the  incentives  to  selfishness  and 
pride,  Christ  became  exalted.  Over  against  all 
the  vanities  of  selfishness,  he  stood  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  genuineness.  And  this  is  the  true  quality 
of  men,  and  the  glory  of  life. 

Over  against  the  criticism  we  have  made  of  the 
selfish  passions,  it  is  well  now  to  determine  what 
shall  be  the  true  estimate  of  the  self,  and  its  posi- 
tion in  our  thought.  In  popular  estimation,  self- 
ishness always  implies  blame ;  whereas  unselfish- 
ness is  approved  as  praiseworthy.  Considering 
only  the  worst  estate  of  the  self-regarding  actions, 
such  judgments  would  be  valid.  But  in  a  deeper 
sense  both  have  claim  for  favorable  judgment. 
Ethics  must  take  account  of  both  phases  of  moral 
possibility.     Acts  are  egoistic  when  their  motive 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  259 

is  the  individual  weal  or  woe;  they  are  altruistic 
when  they  concern  the  weal  or  woe  of  others. 
Conceived  in  a  mutually  exclusive  sense,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  absolute  egoism  is  a  logical  possibility ; 
but  pure  altruism  is  not  even  thinkable. 

Although  speculatively  set  apart,  yet  in  prac- 
tice they  can  not  be  so  sundered.  Absolute  ego- 
ism would  mean  the  war  of  each  against  all,  and 
accordingly  the  end  of  society.  But  in  this  man- 
ner it  defeats  its  own  purpose ;  for  the  individual 
depends  upon  others  for  his  own  best  good.  Pure 
altruism,  on  the  other  hand,  could  only  mean  an 
absurd  exchange  of  interests,  and  would  make  col- 
lective life  impossible.  It  would  imply  that  every- 
body must  attend  to  everybody's  business  but 
their  own ;  and  that  their  own  business  must  be 
furthered  by  everybody  but  themselves.  To  avoid 
such  irrationality,  there  must  be  proper  limitation 
to  the  claims  of  both. 

But  in  actual  life  neither  egoism  nor  altruism 
can  exist  alone.  The  individual  can  not  act  ex- 
cept in  relation  to  others.  Even  the  care  which 
a  man  bestows  upon  his  health  must  react  upon 
the  welfare  of  others.  If  well,  he  can  provide  for 
himself  and  family  which  is  dependent  on  him. 
In  this  case  they  are  all  productive  and  helpful 
members  of  society.  On  the  other  hand,  if  by 
carelessness  he  wastes  his  energies,  both  he  and  his 
family  may  become  a  public  burden.  A  man  may 
sow  and  reap  for  his  own  personal  gain,  yet  at 
the  same  time  it  enriches  his  family,  the  commu- 


260  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

nity  and  the  world.  The  law  of  gravity  implies 
that  the  displacement  of  a  drop  of  water  in  the 
mighty  ocean  requires  the  readjustment  of  every 
other  body  in  the  world  to  it.  In  like  manner,  no 
man  can  act  in  the  least  thing  that  concerns  his 
life  but  that  it  affects  all  others.  If  he  buy  but  a 
penny's  worth,  it  modifies  the  market  of  the  whole 
world.  Each  affects  all,  and  all  affects  each. 
We  are  members  one  of  another. 

Relative  to  the  claims  of  egoism  and  altruism, 
it  is  further  evident  that  the  moral  self  is  the  unit 
of  all  values  in  the  moral  system.  The  good  man 
is  the  supreme  object,  and  the  only  unconditional 
end.  In  this  sense,  therefore,  duties  to  self  take 
the  first  rank.  No  one  can  be  wholly  responsible 
for  others,  but  is  entirely  so  for  himself.  He  is 
the  supreme  arbiter  of  his  own  destin}^,  and  the 
bearer  of  the  ideal  of  humanity.  Accordingly  his 
obligation  is  to  make  the  best  of  himself,  to  reach 
the  highest  possible  perfection  and  efficiency. 
Thus  each  individual  would  raise  the  aggregate  of 
humanity  to  the  highest  possible  level.  The  self- 
regarding  duties  also  are  so  natural  and  spon- 
taneous, as  possibilities  within  ourselves,  that  they 
are  likely  to  find  realization ;  whereas  duties  to 
others  are  limited  by  their  own  freedom  and 
what  is  regarded  as  due  to  humanity  in  gen- 
eral. In  this  sense,  therefore,  the  egoistic  and 
personal  duties  are  the  first  of  all  moral  require- 
ments. 

It  goes  without  further  saying  that  the  proper 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  261 

evaluation  of  self  is  fundamental  to  life  in  any 
wholesome  sense.  Self-regarding  duties  are  first, 
and  in  the  nature  of  the  case  must  be.  Mankind 
seems  to  be  generously  supplied  with  the  egotis- 
tical sense,  and  wisely  so ;  for  by  the  time  our 
struggle  with  the  world  has  taken  out  of  us  a 
goodly  part  of  it,  we  will  hardly  have  more  than 
enough  self-esteem  left  to  live  by.  Unless  we 
think  well  of  ourselves,  it  is  not  likely  that  others 
will  think  so  of  us.  In  the  long  run  the  world  will 
estimate  us  about  as  we  estimate  ourselves.  If 
men  think  too  meanly  of  themselves  or  their  tal- 
ents, they  are  pretty  sure  to  do  rather  badly ;  or 
rather,  perhaps,  not  to  do  anything  at  all  worth 
the  while.  A  proper  self-esteem  is  indispensable 
to  any  success. 

The  overweening  egotism  of  youth  appears  to 
be  so  much  surplus  capital  in  the  making  of  hu- 
manity, for  which  nature  has  wisely  provided. 
The  spirit  of  self-assertion,  although  it  has  ob- 
noxious forms,  is  far  better  than  that  of  self- 
depreciation.  Confidence  in  ourselves  alone  can 
lead  to  fruitful  action ;  and  action  of  almost  any 
character  is  better  than  inaction.  A  good  amount 
of  downright  hardihood  is  required  to  wrest  from 
the  world  the  implements  of  life.  Softness  will 
not  do,  and  temerity  is  unequal  to  the  task.  But 
we  must  also  subdue  ourselves.  There  is  no  spon- 
taneous perfection,  and  passively  brooding  on  our 
low  estate  will  not  in  the  least  redeem  us.  Only 
he  who  feels  a  sufl5ciency  for  the  task  is  at  all  fur- 


26S  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

nished  for  it.  Self-confidence  is  the  beginning, 
and  well  begun  is  half  done. 

Self-esteem,  therefore,  viewed  as  a  due  regard 
for  the  interests  of  the  self  and  its  perfection,  is 
a  primal  virtue,  than  which  there  is  no  greater. 
But  selfishness  usually  refers  to  the  unethical  as- 
pect of  the  self  in  its  obtrusive  relations  to  the 
rights  of  others.  In  such  forms  it  manifests  the 
ugliest  traits  known  to  mankind  which  deserve  the 
universal  opprobrium  they  receive.  Self-regard- 
ing impulses  are  good  and  praiseworthy  when  di- 
rected toward  the  enriching  and  perfecting  of  the 
self,  but  become  odious  when  they  disregard  the 
rights  of  others,  and  unjustly  add  to  our  gain  at 
their  expense.  Mutual  limitations  must  be  the 
condition  of  all  rights  in  general.  Rights  are  not 
founded  by  legislative  enactment,  but  are  given 
in  the  nature  of  the  moral  person.  Law  seeks 
only  to  give  expression  to  these  natural  rights. 
And  from  this  it  is  evident  that  the  moralization 
of  life  can  not  be  imposed  from  without,  but  must 
be  evolved  from  within.  Education,  and  not  the 
police,  must  ever  be  the  chief  bulwark  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

But  because  the  love  of  self  and  the  impulse  of 
self-assertion  are  so  potent  in  man,  for  that  rea- 
son it  follows  that  there  are  temptations  naturally 
peculiar  thereto.  We  meet  with  selfishness,  envy 
and  jealousy  on  every  hand.  All  these  are  rooted 
in  self-conceit.  The  slights  of  society  are  matters 
of  such  moment,  not  because  of  any  great  value 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  263 

in  such  favors,  but  simply  because  the  social  neg- 
lect wounds  our  pride  and  self-esteem.  We  envy 
those  who  have  set  themselves  above  us  by  merit 
or  otherwise,  because  it  tends  to  belittle  our  pre- 
tentious estimate  of  ourselves.  The  good  fortune 
of  others  is  an  offense  to  us  because  of  our  low 
estate.  Often  we  are  more  aggrieved  by  their  su- 
periority than  by  our  inferiority.  It  makes  no 
difference  that  we  are  not  very  high,  so  long  as 
others  are  relatively  low.  Thus  all  values  are 
measured  from  the  self,  however  impoverished  that 
self  may  be.  As  Bacon  declares :  "  A  man  who 
has  no  virtue  in  himself,  ever  envieth  virtue  in 
others." 

Jealousy,  likewise,  rests  back  upon  self-esteem. 
It  is  the  suspicion  of  being  outdone  by  a  rival  in 
matters  of  affection  and  favor ;  the  apprehension 
of  being  displaced  in  the  love  of  another.  Here 
the  sense  of  personal  loss  is  augmented  by  the  hurt 
to  personal  pride.  It  is  liable,  therefore,  to  be  a 
doubly  violent  passion.  Envy  is  passive;  jeal- 
ousy is  active.  Once  in  the  heart,  it  may  grow 
into  hatred,  so  that  Cain  slays  Abel,  and  Christ 
is  raised  upon  the  cross.  In  simple  selfishness  we 
are  our  own  object,  and  the  self  casts  an  unob- 
structed shadow;  in  envy  and  jealousy  the  self  is 
viewed  in  relation  to  others,  upon  which  it  is  sil- 
houetted in  menacing  outline.  Envy,  however,  is 
only  the  grudging  sense  of  inferiority,  whereas 
jealousy  is  apprehensive,  earnestly  and  anxiously 
suspicious,  distrustful,  revengeful. 


264  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

On  reflection  we  are  amazed  at  the  many-sided 
aspects  of  selfishness.  It  manifests  itself,  not- 
alone  in  individual  interests,  but  in  partisan  ani- 
mosities of  societies  and  nations.  For  the  doubt- 
ful cause  hysterical  enthusiasm  must  be  wrought 
up ;  and  the  greater  the  noise  made,  the  greater  is 
supposed  to  be  the  merit  of  the  issue.  One  is  re- 
minded of  Mr.  Beecher's  reputed  ironical  advice  ja 
to  the  preachers:  "  If  you  have  no  ideas,  shout." y^.^ 
Furthermore,  men  are  not  content  with  setting  off 
innocent  rockets  by  way  of  attracting  attention  to 
themselves,  but  must  engage  full  more  zealously 
in  trying  to  pull  down  rival  reputations  by  muck- 
raking scandals.  The  negating  of  qualities  in 
others  is  assumed  to  be  equivalent  to  affirming  the 
same  in  themselves,  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  to 
say  what  is  not  is  not  to  say  what  is.  Insult  is 
not  discussion. 

In  every  walk  of  life  there  is  more  or  less  of 
sham  and  pretense.  This  is  natural  to  a  world  of 
falKble  and  imperfect  men.  But  the  demand  of  all 
thoughtful  minds  is  for  substance  and  not  shadow, 
for  truth  and  not  fiction.  Hence,  it  is  when  men 
seek  to  boost  impostures  into  verities  that  we  have 
a  spectacle  to  make  angels  weep.  There  may  al- 
ways be  charity  for  honest  mistakes,  but  for  bump- 
tious egotism  there  can  be  nothing  but  contempt 
and  derision.  The  record  of  the  past  has  not  been 
one  of  truth  and  righteousness,  but  the  retort  of 
evil  for  evil,  and  the  general  satisfying  of  selfish 
ends.     Justice  is  made  a  travesty,  and  constitu- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  S65 

tions  are  made  the  formal  instruments  of  conspir- 
acy and  crime.  The  advocate  and  orator,  instead 
of  faithfully  following  the  truth  of  the  matter  un- 
der consideration,  turns  aside,  as  Shakespeare 
would  say,  to  split  the  ears  of  the  groundling, 
that  he  may  elicit  applause  from  his  auditors  with 
flattery  for  himself.  Even  the  pulpit,  in  in- 
stances, has  been  prostituted  to  this  same  selfish 
end.  Then  the  aim  is  not  a  building  up  of  the 
people  in  the  knowledge  and  grace  of  God,  but 
what  will  make  the  pastor  "  popular,"  put  money 
in  his  purse,  and  his  name  in  the  papers.  To  this 
end  he  will  be  as  vulgar  as  the  public  sense  will 
admit,  and  play  the  mountebank  for  effect.  This 
same  spirit  of  selfish  egotism  is  seen  in  even  the 
small  niceties  of  social  relations.  Affectation  of 
speech  or  a  particular  cut  of  garment  gives  a  com- 
mensurate aristocratic  distinction,  and  puts  all 
less  favored  out  of  class.  "  Surely  every  man 
walketh  in  a  vain  show."  ^ 

The  spirit  of  adulation  and  even  deification  is 
native  to  the  human  mind.  Its  motive-spring 
is  the  impulse  for  egotistical  self-glorification. 
Even  when  a  man  is  overshadowed  by  others,  he 
may  give  a  negative  expression  of  his  ideal  self, 
as  reflected  in  the  homage  he  renders  to  the  more 
fortunate.  To  a  degree  we  are  all  hero  worship- 
ers ;  we  see  in  others  what  we  ourselves  would  be ; 
they  are  we  at  our  best.  This  spirit  of  self-glori- 
fication knows  no  bounds.     Kings,  in  their  infatu- 

sPsa.  39:6. 


266  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ation,  have  assumed  divine  origin,  and  to  desig- 
nate their  superiority  to  common  humanity  have 
claimed  the  title  "  Son  of  Heaven."  The  king, 
therefore,  must  be  a  god ;  and  the  Caesars  of  Rome 
were  worshiped  as  such.  Superstition  always  has 
lent  force  to  such  puerile  notion.  When  the  des- 
tinies of  nations  were  determined  by  the  chance 
flight  of  birds,  and  armies  were  commanded  by  the 
oracular  vagaries  of  vestal  virgins,  credence  in 
anything  whatever  might  be  expected.  Every- 
thing that  could  not  be  easily  understood  was  lia- 
ble to  be  deified.  Even  the  most  trivial  matters 
might  thus  take  on  an  altogether  marvelous  signifi- 
cance. Example  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  case 
of  St.  Paul  when  shipwrecked  at  Melita ;  as  the 
viper  came  out  of  the  sticks  which  he  laid  on  the 
fire,  and  fastened  on  his  hand,  the  barbarians  who 
saw  it  said  among  themselves :  "  No  doubt  this 
man  is  a  murderer  whom,  though  he  hath  escaped 
the  sea,  yet  vengeance  suffereth  not  to  live."  But 
so  soon  as  he  shook  it  off  into  the  fire  and  suffered 
no  harm  therefrom,  they  went  to  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, and  said :     "  He  is  a  god."  ^ 

No  more  colossal  spectacle  of  selfishness  can  be 
witnessed  than  in  the  realm  of  commercial  piracy. 
By  individual  and  corporate  machinations,  by  un- 
holy alliances  and  cooperative  conspiracies,  by 
wicked  legislation  and  special  privileges,  the  peo- 
ple have  been  robbed  by  wholesale,  and  fabulous 
fortunes  piled  up  from  the  plunder  of  organized 
6  Acts  28:4. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  267 

thievery.  Those  who  have  won  in  the  gamble  are 
feted  and  heaped  with  honors,  particularly  if  the 
lords  of  the  game  be  minded  to  bestow  a  moiety 
of  their  ill-gotten  gains  upon  various  benevolences. 
To  suggest  that  it  would  be  more  rational  and 
benevolent  to  do  justice  to  men  while  in  active  life 
than  to  dole  out  charity  to  them  when  old  and  dis- 
abled would  hardly  find  approval  with  the  selfish 
cult.  This  would  indeed  dignify  humanity,  but 
would  fatally  handicap  egotism  and  selfishness  in 
their  desire  to  make  all  men  patrons  of  their 
bounty.  To  compensate  men  justly  would  be  to 
lay  them  under  no  obligation  ;  but  this  is  just  what 
selfishness  aspires  to  do.  Hence  selfishness  must 
be  satisfied,  even  though  it  feed  upon  the  feelings 
and  rights  of  others.  Richly  endowed  founda- 
tions are  thus  established  on  the  degradation  of 
the  lives  of  men. 

Selfishness,  likewise,  has  been  the  chief  cause 
of  wars  and  strifes  throughout  history.  Some 
slight,  which  wounded  a  sensitive  pride,  or  re- 
flected upon  a  supposed  honor,  or  otherwise  hin- 
dered the  course  of  self-glorification,  often  re- 
sulted in  nations  being  hurled  at  the  throats  of 
nations,  until  countless  millions  have  bled  and  died 
in  senseless  orgies  of  vanity.  And  when  offense 
did  not  come  otherwise,  vaulting  ambition  often 
wilfully  provoked  it,  in  order  that  an  advanta- 
geous quarrel  might  be  incurred  or  continued. 
Selfish  egotism  finds  no  more  congenial  sphere  than 
this.     The  successful  conqueror  became  absolute 


268  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

master,  and  the  people  were  his  slaves.  The  king 
was  all  in  all,  and  his  will  was  the  law  of  the  realm. 
Egotistical  infatuation  here  reaches  its  acme. 
Louis  XIV  declared :  "  I  am  the  state."  Selfish 
courtesans  have  always  found  it  profitable  to  their 
advancement  to  adopt  such  royal  suggestions,  and 
push  them  to  their  logical  limit.  Thus  Madame 
du  Barry,  adding  variety  to  the  suggestion,  gives 
to  Louis  XV  the  appellation  "  France."  But  the 
acropolis  of  egotism,  the  very  apotheosis  of  self- 
ishness, finds  its  crowning  maxim  uttered  by  Czar 
Paul  of  Russia :  "  No  man  possesses  power  ex- 
cept whom  the  emperor  addresses,  and  his  power 
continues  only  so  long  as  the  word  he  hears." 
This  finds  its  counterpart  in  the  realm  of  religion 
in  the  dogma  of  the  infallibility  of  the  pope.  But 
in  both  state  and  church  the  age  of  deification  is 
past,  and  men  are  honored  only  because  of  the 
service  they  have  rendered ;  thus,  Pythagoras  out- 
shines the  Pharaohs,  and  Galileo  is  crowned  above 
Urban  VIII. 

Egotistical  conceit  is,  perhaps,  nowhere  more  in 
evidence  than  in  the  sphere  of  religion.  It  is  one 
of  the  strange  contradictions  which  we  find  in  life 
that,  although  religion  is  one  of  the  truest  things 
in  the  world,  yet  also,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  it 
admits  of  the  most  complete  counterfeit.  Be- 
cause we  can  not  see  men's  hearts,  they  steal  the 
livery  of  heaven  to  serve  the  devil  in.  Also,  it 
often  happens  that  good  intentions  are  mistaken 
for  good  sense.     Even  a  downright  bravado  is  na- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  269 

tive  to  some  religionists.  What,  for  example, 
would  we  think  of  a  man  who,  never  having  studied 
mathematics  or  philosophy,  would  presume  to  pro- 
nounce judgments  in  these  disciplines?  Yet  in 
religion  we  find  men  arrogating  to  themselves  the 
right  to  pass  judgments  upon  the  profoundest  his- 
torical and  critical  problems  without  ever  having 
investigated  them  at  all.  No  man  has  any  more 
right  to  express  an  opinion  in  religious  matters, 
who  has  not  intelligently  prepared  himself,  than 
he  has  in  any  other  field  of  thought  whatever. 
Unless  this  be  true,  all  judgments  could  be  no 
more  than  mere  personal  infatuation,  and  to  as- 
sert them  would  be  an  impertinence.  It  is  from 
lack  of  proper  modesty  in  this  respect  that  we  so 
often  meet  with  gross  religious  travesty ;  the  blind 
lead  the  blind.  Shams  are  mistaken  for  the  genu- 
ine, and  all  things  sacred  are  made  to  appear  vul- 
gar and  cheap.  In  this  manner,  religion  suffers 
more  from  its  friends  than  from  its  enemies. 
Often  this  is  not  the  fault  of  mens'  motives,  which 
may  be  good,  but  of  ignorance  and  stupidity. 

It  may  be  well  to  note,  in  this  connection,  that 
the  irrational  presupposition  back  of  Christ's 
temptation  to  cast  himself  down  from  the  pinnacle 
of  the  Temple,  and  in  some  mysterious  way  with- 
out injury  to  himself,  is  in  harmony  with  the 
general  attitude  of  certain  undisciplined  minds. 
Whatever  presents  a  mysterious  aspect,  that  which 
is  essentially  miraculous,  appeals  more  powerfully 
to  such  types  of  mind  than  the  regularity  of  grav- 


270  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

ity,  or  the  orderly  ongoings  of  nature.  They  live 
in  an  atmosphere  of  legerdemain ;  things  are  made 
to  appear  what  they  are  not,  and  the  unreal  more 
certain  than  the  real.  Such  minds  find  expression 
in  the  vagaries  of  superstition,  and  even  the  Chris- 
tian religion  has  been  far  from  free  of  such  mani- 
festation. The  mysterious  and  inscrutable  exer- 
cises a  magic  influence  over  many  men,  and  what- 
ever is  surrounded  with  its  glamour  is  liable  to  be- 
come an  object  of  veneration  and  awe.  Those 
who  refuse  to  believe  in  the  rational  and  self-evi- 
dent rush  headlong  into  acceptance  of  the  absurd 
and  impossible;  rejecting  the  sanest  tenets  of  re- 
ligion, they  accept  with  avidity  the  whims  of  psy- 
chomancy.  The  more  impossible  a  thing  may  be, 
the  more  likely  their  faith  in  it.  The  impulse 
which  was  the  occasion  of  this  temptation,  there- 
fore, is  one  that  is  native  to  the  chaotic  and  un- 
developed mind. 

As  the  first  temptation  was  a  test  of  choice  be- 
tween the  sensuous  and  the  rational  nature,  so 
this  temptation  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  deter- 
mination as  between  an  immoral  and  moral  course 
of  life.  Christ  rejected  the  impulse  to  selfishness 
for  obedience  to  the  moral  law  and  common  order 
of  life  and  the  world.  In  so  doing  he  emphasized 
the  principle  of  altruistic  and  benevolent  action. 
We  have  found  that  duties  to  self  hold  rank  above 
all  others  in  our  lives ;  yet  duties  to  others  are  de- 
manded of  us  according  to  their  rights.  Rights 
have  mutual  limitation ;  whatever  are  our  rights 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  271 

become  the  duties  of  others ;  and  whatever  are 
their  rights  become  our  duties.  To  harmonize  in- 
dividual rights  with  the  rights  of  all  others,  so  that 
the  law  of  common  good  may  be  realized,  is  the 
personal  as  well  as  public  duty.  This  fact  con- 
stitutes the  necessity  for  altruistic  and  benevolent 
motives  and  conduct.  Since  no  man  liveth  unto 
himself,  the  law  of  good-will  must  be  the  universal 
moral  principle  of  action.  It  commands  that  we 
do  unto  others  as  we  would  that  they  should  do 
unto  us.  In  denying  himself  the  gratification  of 
selfish  desire  to  gain  the  fulsome  flattery  of  a 
credulous  people,  Christ  surrendered  himself 
wholly  to  the  absolute  moral  requirement,  and  as 
Kant  would  say,  his  action  was  fit  to  become  a 
universal  law. 

The  unprecedented  power  that  Christianity  has 
been  in  the  history  of  the  world  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  church  has  embodied  and  inculcated  the 
spirit  of  self-denial  and  even  sacrifice  of  Christ. 
Universal  brotherhood  is  a  possibility  only  in  so 
far  as  good-will  is  enthroned.  This  altruistic 
good-will  is  a  living  reality  in  the  eleemosynary 
institutions  of  Christendom  and  in  its  thousand- 
fold labors  of  love.  This  great  spirit  of  mutually 
bearing  one  another's  burdens  was  born  with 
Christ  in  Bethlehem.  It  is  this  altruistic  spirit  of 
helpfulness  that  has  lifted  the  world  upward. 
Without  this  spirit,  civilization  would  be  impossi- 
ble. 

But  there  must  not  only  be  the  good-will,  but 


272  CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION 

the  will  that  does  good.  It  follows  that  sacrifice 
is  the  law  of  progress  and  life.  What  endless 
sacrifices  must  a  father  and  mother  make  in  rear- 
ing their  children,  educating  them,  and  bringing 
them  to  maturity  of  character  and  worth !  What 
unrequited  and  unpaid  labors  must  mankind  ren- 
der in  order  that  advance  may  at  all  be  made ! 
Our  churches,  hospitals,  schools  and  colleges,  all 
represent  the  sacrifices  of  centuries  of  patriots  and 
saints.  Christ  declared  that  he  laid  down  his  life 
for  the  world,  a  sacrifice  for  the  purpose  of  call- 
ing men  to  conviction,  and  winning  them  from 
their  sins.  And  every  missionary  of  the  cross  has 
but  followed  the  same  law  of  heroic  labor.  The 
uplifted  cross  is  the  symbol  of  the  world's  only 
possible  means  of  salvation.  The  moral  law  is 
the  only  means  of  the  world's  existence,  and  when 
it  is  broken  the  world  is  broken. 

Rejecting  the  irrational  impulse  to  cast  himself 
down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple  for  the  im- 
moral purpose  of  mere  flattery  and  self-seeking 
vanity,  Christ  denied  himself  and  took  up  the 
cross:  that  is,  subjected  himself  to  the  same  al- 
truistic demands  of  morality  that  are  required 
of  all  men,  and  thereby  not  only  saved  himself 
from  degradation,  but  laid  down  a  fulcrum  by 
which  the  world  is  raised  on  high. 


CHAPTER  IX 
TEMPTATION  OF  SOVEREIGNTY 


"  All  good  things  are  given,  over  and  above,  to  him 
who  desires  but  righteousness.  To  be  disinterested 
is  to  be  strong,  and  the  world  is  at  the  feet  of  him 
it  can  not  tempt." 

Amiel,  "  Journal." 

"  Again  the  devil  taketh  him  up  into  an  exceeding 
high  mountain,  and  showeth  him  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them;  and  saith  unto  him, 
All  these  things  will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall 
down  and  worship  me.  Then  saith  Jesus  unto  him. 
Get  thee  hence,  Satan;  for  it  is  written.  Thou  shalt 
worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou 
serve." 

St.  Matthew  4:8-10. 

"  Man  who  man  would  be 
Must  rule  the  empire  of  himself;  in  it 
Must  be  supreme,  establishing  his  throne 
On  vanquished  will,  quelling  the  anarchy 
Of  hopes  and  fears,  being  himself  alone." 

Shelley,  "  Poems,"  Vol.  IV,  p.  132. 


CHAPTER  IX 
TEMPTATION  OF  SOVEREIGNTY 

The  third  temptation  of  Christ  is  lifted  up  into 
a  realm  of  higher  order  than  either  of  the  others. 
Sensuousness  is  of  groveling  character,  and  be- 
comes despicable  when  it  reaches  its  lowest  estate. 
Selfishness  also  is  not  only  narrow  and  mean,  but 
in  its  worst  form  is  the  epitome  of  all  vanity. 
But  in  the  temptation  of  sovereignty/  we  have  an 
impulse  which,  although  capable  of  being  the  ex- 
pression of  complete  selfishness,  admits  also  of  the 
largest  degree  of  altruistic  magnanimity.  Civic 
action  may  be  prompted  by  the  highest  philan- 
thropic motives,  from  a  sense  of  patriotic  and 
unselfish  duty.  Cromwell  defended  the  liberties 
of  the  people  against  the  encroachments  of  tyr- 
anny, but  himself  refused  to  become  king. 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that  gen- 
erally speaking,  such  unselfish  attitude  of  mind 
does  not  prevail  among  men,  but  on  the  contrary 
that  selfish  motives  largely  predominate.  This 
fact  is  exemplified  in  the  self-seeking  and  general 
corruption  of  men  in  professional  politics.  Here 
the  purpose  is  not  what  serves  the  common  good, 

but  what  contributes  to  their  personal  ends.     Am- 

275 


276  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

bition    for    sovereignty    has    usually   been    selfish. 

Sovereignty  and  power  have  been  glorified  in 
history  above  all  other  human  aspirations.  His- 
tory, in  fact,  has  been  largely  constructed  around 
the  lives  of  dominant  individuals.  The  activities 
of  nations  have  centered  in  the  names  of  great 
men  as  the  pivots  of  power  which  determined 
their  destinies.  The  desire  of  nations  has  been 
embodied  in  their  heroes  and  kings.  The  human 
mind  is  so  constituted  that  it  instinctively  pays 
homage  to  that  which  excels,  and  glorifies  power, 
because  they  are  the  symbols  of  good  fortune. 
And  since  sovereignty  is  the  supremest  throne  of 
power,  when  Christ  was  on  the  high  mountain 
and  beheld  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  spread  out 
before  him,  the  temptation  to  possess  them,  by 
serving  the  devil,  was  the  mightiest  impulse  that 
ever  comes  to  men.  The  suggestion  is  that  if  he 
would  but  dedicate  his  splendid  powers  wholly 
to  selfish  ambition,  and  be  willing  unscrupulously 
to  stoop  to  any  devilish  means  whatever  to  reach 
the  end,  he  could  ascend  all  thrones  of  the  world. 
If  he  would  step  aside  from  his  divine  calling, 
and  take  up  the  course  of  worldly  glory  and 
achievement,  he  might  place  the  most  illustrious 
diadem  upon  his  brow.  Let  him  but  submit  to 
any  diabolical  methods  which  might  serve  his  pur- 
pose, then  any  imaginable  human  goal  would  be 
his,  even  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world." 

No  greater  temptation  than  this  is  even  con- 
ceivable.    Only  let  him  do  the  devil's  work  and 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  277 

success  was  assured.  If  he  hesitate  not  to  use 
foul  means  as  well  as  fair,  the  way  to  all  tem- 
poral greatness  was  open  before  him.  Shake- 
speare uses  this  thought  with  profound  effect 
when  he  makes  Lady  Macbeth  say  concerning  her 
husband : 

"  Thou  wouldst  be  great; 
Art  not  without  ambition,  but  without 
The   illness    should   attend   it:   what   thou   wouldst 

highly, 
That  wouldst  thou  holily;  wouldst  not  play  false, 
And   yet  wouldst  wrongly   win."  ^ 

She  doubted  his  nature ;  there  was  too  much  of 
the  milk  of  human  kindness  in  it  to  do  the  fateful 
murder.  Macbeth  would  be  king,  and  yet  feared 
to  use  the  means  thereto.  If  he  would  win  the 
prize  he  must  fall  down  and  worship  the  devil. 

Christ  was  tempted,  therefore,  at  the  point  and 
in  the  manner  which  is  liable  to  be  the  case  with 
every  man  who  sets  out  upon  a  career  of  ambi- 
tion. And  we  may  believe  that  with  his  tran- 
scendent abilities,  had  he  given  himself  wholly 
to  the  task,  there  was  no  conceivable  height  of 
worldly  attainment  but  that  he  might  easily  have 
reached.  It  must  be  recognized  that  Christ's 
powers  for  evil  were  just  as  great  as  they  were 
for  good.  A  man's  potentiality  for  evil  and  good 
are  commensurate ;  the  moral  nature  is  always  in 
equilibrium.  It  is  indeed  appalling  to  conteno- 
1"  Macbeth,"  Act  I,  Scene  V. 


278  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

plate  the  course  of  human  history  dominated  by 
so  great  a  power  for  evil ;  and  had  he  wilfully 
betrayed  his  divine  mission,  submitted  to  such  dia- 
bolical agencies  as  expediency  might  demand,  he 
could  doubtless  have  crowned  himself  and  the 
world  with  infamy  beyond  all  utterance. 

There  is  no  more  dramatic  scene  to  be  found 
in  literature  than  that  of  Christ  upon  the  high 
mountain  viewing  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and 
the  glory  of  them.  Consider  what  emotions  must 
have  surged  through  his  soul  as,  on  the  one  side, 
he  weighed  in  the  balance  the  sovereignty  of  these 
kingdoms,  himself  bedecked  with  majesty,  domin- 
ion and  power,  and  enthroned  in  pomp  and  splen- 
dor ;  and  on  the  other  side,  poverty,  persecution 
and  crucifixion.  Could  there  be  an  atom  of  hu- 
manity in  him  and  he  not  instinctively  grasp  for 
the  one  and  shrink  from  the  other?  In  that  hour 
Christ  was  weighing  two  worlds,  and  contemplat- 
ing the  surrender  of  abiding  goodness  for  tem- 
poral glory,  persuasive  meekness  for  kingly 
might,  moral  sovereignty  for  the  sword.  His 
warring  passions  contended  for  the  supreme  moral 
antitheses, —  the  fruits  of  righteousness  or  the 
wages  of  sin.  His  was  the  climax  of  all  conceiva- 
ble temptations.  Nothing  more  momentous  is 
even  imaginable  than  this  fateful  event ;  and  indeed 
nothing  is  more  crucial  in  any  life  than  the  hour 
of  supreme  temptation ;  for  out  of  it  must  come 
the  soul's  exaltation  or  debasement,  its  security 
or  overthrow. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  279 

In  this  temptation  of  Christ  we  have  a  field  of 
possible  achievement  worthy  of  his  great  powers. 
It  is  almost  inconceivable  that  so  kingly  a  soul 
as  his  could  have  fallen  under  the  impulses  of 
gross  sensuousness,  or  of  narrow  egotism  and 
petty  selfishness.  These  are  things  for  small 
minds.  But  aspiration  to  universal  sovereignty 
is  commensurate  with  real  greatness.  The  dream 
of  Alexander  for  the  mastery  of  the  whole  world 
was  that  which  claimed  the  mind  of  Christ  in  this 
sublime  but  crucial  hour.  Nothing  less  than  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  could  suffice  for  his  im- 
perial soul.  But  on  the  horizon  of  his  conscious- 
ness arose  the  specter  of  unrelenting  wickedness 
as  the  necessary  implement  of  their  conquest ;  he 
must  win  the  throne  by  the  works  of  the  devil. 
"  All  these  things  will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall 
down  and  worship  me." 

But  let  us  turn  now  to  see  what  such  sovereignty 
would  have  involved.  It  is  evident  that  to  reach 
the  goal  his  great  powers  would  have  had  to  be 
turned  to  any  perfidy  and  unscrupulousness  what- 
ever. Behold  the  world  of  his  day,  and  consider 
the  bloodshed  required  to  ascend  its  thrones. 
The  mighty  power  of  Rome,  which  was  then  the 
mistress  of  the  known  world,  would  have  had  to 
be  destroyed  and  subjugated,  all  lesser  kingdoms 
degraded,  and  the  whole  of  mankind  brought 
under  the  sword.  To  achieve  such  universal 
sway,  all  must  be  put  under  his  feet.  And  shall 
we  ask  to  what  end?     Onl}"^  that  he  might  out- 


280  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

Ccesar  the  Ca2sars,  and  become  the  supreme  spec- 
tacle of  human  wonder  and  awe. 

Granting  the  superior  intelHgence  and  power 
which  Christ  evidently  possessed,  it  is  not  unrea- 
sonable to  believe  but  that,  by  availing  himself 
of  whatever  means  were  necessary  to  the  end,  he 
indeed  might  readily  have  gained  ascendency  over 
the  world.  Had  he  not  scrupled  to  ally  himself 
with  such  evil  agencies  as  would  have  best  served 
the  purpose,  he  might  actually  have  attained  to 
universal  sovereignty.  This  was  no  impossibility. 
But  to  have  accomplished  such  a  purpose,  he 
would  have  had  to  set  his  hand  against  all  who 
opposed  him ;  and  having  once  started  on  so  evil 
a  course,  as  with  Macbeth,  the  hand  of  every  man 
would  have  been  turned  against  him.  Hence  he 
would  have  had  to  destroy  the  world,  or  the  world 
would  destroy  him. 

It  may  be  suggested  perhaps  that,  because  of 
the  superior  powers  of  mind  and  heart  which  he 
possessed,  Christ  could  have  won  and  governed 
the  world  by  simple  intellectual,  moral,  and  social 
agencies,  without  recourse  to  the  sword.  But  the 
answer  must  be  that  there  is  no  warrant  for  so 
thinking.  In  fact,  there  is  nothing  in  the  whole 
of  history  to  furnish  the  slightest  ground  for  such 
belief.  It  would  certainly  have  been  necessary 
for  human  nature  to  have  been  completely  changed 
before  any  such  thing  could  have  been  possible. 
The  notion  is  untenable  in  fact  or  reason.  His 
appeal  to  the  world  was  made  in  this  very  way, 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  281 

and  he  was  rejected  and  crucified.  He  could 
have  gained  sovereignty  only  by  the  power  of  the 
sword,  the  same  as  the  other  conquerors  of  the 
world,  and  at  the  cost  of  frightful  carnage  and 
ruthless  cruelty.  To  wear  the  crown,  he  must 
play  the  devil. 

In  this  temptation,  as  in  the  others,  we  may 
observe  that  its  literary  presentation  lifts  it  up 
into  the  realm  of  the  ideal,  and  makes  it  the  uni- 
versal under  which  all  particular  temptations  of 
this  character  are  subsumed.  It  is  evident  that 
the  language  itself  is  of  a  poetical  character,  and 
not  a  literal  portrayal  of  fact.  When  the  devil 
is  recorded  to  have  shown  him  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them,  this  was  evi- 
dently a  physical  impossibility.  In  this  case  the 
world,  as  far  as  eye  could  see  from  the  mountain 
height,  was  simply  symbolical  of  all  the  empires  of 
men.  Also  the  glory  of  these  kingdoms  could 
not  really  be  shown,  but  only  contemplated.  The 
conceptions  involved  are  merely  typical. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Christ  under- 
went some  such  temptation  as  is  recorded,  but  it 
is  evident  that  the  writers  of  the  Gospels  have 
taken  his  subjective  experience  and  objectified 
and  idealized  it.  It  is  clear  that  he  was  not  lit- 
erally taken  up  on  the  mountain  and  tempted  by 
a  personal  devil.  Such  supposition  is  sheer  su- 
perstition. But  on  the  other  hand,  that  Christ 
was  powerfully  moved  from  the  depths  of  his  moral 
nature  to  turn  from  the  high  mission  to  which  he 


282  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

felt  himself  called,  to  one  of  selfish  ambition  and 
power,  is  but  natural.  Being  possessed  of  such 
a  nature,  he  was  tempted  in  this  manner  like  all 
men,  and  all  men  are  more  or  less  tempted  as  was 
he.  To  be  sure,  he  might  have  used  all  worth}^ 
and  legitimate  agencies  in  the  assumption  of 
power,  but  the  essential  fact  remains  that  he  must 
likewise  not  hesitate  to  resort  to  any  devilishness 
whatever  necessary  to  the  end.  This  is  the  in- 
dispensable element  in  the  temptation  of  all  men. 

It  must  be  recognized,  however,  that  Christ 
possessed  a  moral  intensity  beyond  the  ordinary. 
For  this  very  reason  the  keener  and  sharper  must 
have  been  his  temptation.  His  superior  intel- 
lectual and  moral  endowments  made  him  all  the 
more  susceptible  to  all  influences,  and  so  much  the 
more  must  have  been  his  ruin  had  he  yielded  to 
the  enticements  of  evil.  Knowledge  is  power,  but 
it  may  be  power  for  evil  as  well  as  good.  Intel- 
lectual culture  and  intensified  sensibility  make 
men  all  the  more  subject  to  temptation;  and  their 
degradation  is  certain  unless  supported  by  the 
restraints  of  moral  power  and  determined  char- 
acter. This  truth  is  exemplified,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  the  fact  that  those  who  possess  power 
are  ever  tempted  to  abuse  it.  All  men  can  stand 
adversity ;  few  men  can  stand  prosperity. 

The  manner  in  which  Christ  met  this  last  and 
greatest  temptation  is  likewise  strikingly  charac- 
teristic. "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan :  for  it  is  writ- 
ten, Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  283 

Him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  He  simply  but  de- 
cisively put  the  temptation  of  sovereignty  away 
from  his  thoughts.  He  banished  the  notion  for- 
ever. And  in  this  his  wisdom  is  manifest.  The 
only  way  to  avoid  evil  is  not  to  entertain  it  in  our 
hearts  or  minds.  And  the  only  escape  from  evil 
thoughts  is  to  direct  our  attention  elsewhere. 
So  long  as  we  entertain  an  evil  course  of  action 
in  our  minds,  sin  crouches  at  our  door.  And  if 
this  be  continued  long  enough,  the  sin  will  be 
embraced,  be  it  of  however  hideous  a  mien.  It  is 
because  men  are  harboring  sin  in  their  thoughts, 
like  a  sweet  morsel  under  their  tongues,  that  the 
fall  of  man  is  being  reenacted  continuously. 

There  is  what  may  be  called  a  sanity  of  soul ; 
the  Greeks  termed  it  healthy-mindedness.  Its  les- 
son runs :  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he. 
Whatever  most  occupies  our  thoughts,  that  we  be- 
come like.  If,  therefore,  we  will  be  kept  from  sin, 
we  must  not  think  upon  that  which  is  sinful;  if 
we  will  be  pure,  we  must  keep  pure  our  minds. 
The  sanctity  of  our  thoughts  is  the  flaming  sword 
that  guards  the  tree  of  life.  High  living  depends 
upon  high  thinking.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to 
reserve  the  fact  in  mind  that  because  of  the  spon- 
taneity of  thought,  sinful  suggestions  cross  our 
minds  in  spite  of  our  wills ;  but  this  does  not  con- 
stitute actual  sin ;  it  is  only  the  loving  and  doing 
evil  that  is  sinful.  It  is  this,  if  persisted  in, 
which  is  sure  to  bring  us  to  destruction.  To  ban- 
ish such  thoughts  from  our  minds  is  the  only  way 


284  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

of  escape ;  and  this  can  best  be  done  by  directing 
the  mind  to  nobler  thoughts.  It  is  the  secret  sin, 
the  sin  that  is  hid  from  the  world  in  our  innermost 
hearts,  that  blights  and  destroys.  It  is  like 
the  invisible  germ  of  disease  which  ravages  un- 
seen and  unknown.  It  may  be  questioned  if  men 
are  not  wrecked  by  secret  sins  more  than  by  outer 
lawlessness.  Men  fail  to  become  men  in  the  large 
sense  because  their  thoughts  dwell  upon  the  mean 
and  sordid.  Base  thoughts  make  rogues ;  noble 
thoughts  make  noblemen. 

As  it  was  with  Christ  in  the  time  of  tempta- 
tion, so  likewise  our  only  safety  is  in  banishing 
Satanic  suggestions.  And  it  should  be  empha- 
sized that  this  is  in  our  power;  and  the  only  way 
to  do  anything  is  to  do  it.  To  rely  upon  God 
to  do  for  us  what  is  in  our  own  power  is  vain. 
Unless  this  were  true,  the  whole  purpose  of  moral 
discipline  would  be  worthless,  and  the  moral  na- 
ture thereby  destroyed.  There  has  never  been  a 
greater  heresy  than  the  extreme  notion  of  vicari- 
ous salvation.  The  notion  of  such  miraculous 
agency  has  not  alone  infested  religious  thought 
and  literature,  however,  but  has  had  its  parallel 
in  the  scientific  vagaries  of  alchemy  and  astrol- 
ogy, whereby  men  have  sought  the  philosopher's 
stone,  the  fountain  of  immortal  youth,  and  other 
equally  magical  vanities.  Men  wonder  because 
they  are  ignorant,  and  as  Carlyle  declares : 
"  Wonder  is  the  basis  of  worship,  and  the  reign 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  285 

of  wonder  is  perennial,  indestructible  in  man."  ^ 
Hence,  the  more  men  know,  the  more  are  they  com- 
pelled to  wonder  at  life  and  the  world.  Ignorance 
may  be  the  mother  of  a  certain  kind  of  devotion, 
but  intelligence  is  the  mother  of  a  decidedly  higher 
kind.  Surely  intelligent  worship  alone  can  be 
acceptable  to  the  Supreme  Intelligence.  Instead 
of  vainly  trusting  in  miraculous  deliverance  from 
evil,  it  is  for  us  to  quit  ourselves  like  men  in  striv- 
ing against  sin. 

The  answer  Christ  gave  to  this  temptation  sug- 
gests the  further  fact  that  men  may  attain  to  real 
power  only  by  serving  God.  "  Him  only  shalt 
thou  serve."  It  is  only  by  allying  ourselves  with 
the  Almighty,  and  availing  ourselves  of  His  laws, 
that  we  may  do  mighty  works.  Left  to  ourselves 
we  are  helpless,  but  by  laying  hold  of  the  forces 
of  the  world,  which  are  but  the  expression  of  His 
sovereign  will,  we  may  remove  mountains.  Ar- 
chimedes burned  the  Persian  fleet  in  the  harbor  of 
Syracuse  with  the  silent  rays  of  the  sun,  focused 
by  the  law  of  optics.  Colonel  Goethals,  by  the 
laws  of  water  and  fire,  has  severed  a  continent  in 
twain  and  united  the  boundless  oceans.  The 
whole  world's  loveliness  is  but  the  matchless  robe 
with  which  the  All-Beautiful  clothes  Himself.  He 
guarantees  the  integrity  and  utility  of  the  world- 
order,  and  His  laws  are  infallible.  In  rapture 
thereat  poets  have  sung:  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  is 
2  "  Sartor  Resartus." 


286  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

the  Lord  of  hosts:  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his 
glory." 3 

In  fact,  the  world-system,  in  order  to  be  intel- 
ligible, must  be  one  of  law.     Definite  antecedents 
must  be  followed  by  the  same  definite  consequents. 
There  must,   therefore,   be   an   exact   adjustment 
of  all  interacting  members  to  all  others.     Without 
this,    science    would    be    impossible.     Amenability 
to  the  laws  of  thought  is  the  implication  of  any 
intelligible    system.     And    the    fact    that    every 
realm  of  nature  and  life  admits  of  such  reduction 
to  order  is  one  of  the  greatest  wonders  of  exist- 
ence.    Thus  in  biology,  physics,  chemistry,  psy- 
chology, and  every  science  whatever,  we  find  prin- 
ciples, laws  and  order,  which  constitute  them  sci- 
ences at  all.     Everything  in  the  universe  is  thus 
adjusted  in  an  all-embracing  harmony.     And  as 
we  have  seen,  this  is  the  real  witness  of  God  in  the 
world.     Man's  life  also  is  bound  up  in  interaction 
with  all  other  relations  of  the  world,  and  his  well- 
being  depends  upon  his  filial  and  loving  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  his  nature.     God's  will,  therefore, 
may  be  infallibly  seen  in  these  constitutional  laws 
of  life  and  being.     However,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  His  will  can  be  seen  in  these  things  only  in 
so  far  as  our  lives  are  related  thereto.     It  follows 
that  not  the  whole  will  of  God  can  be  found  writ- 
ten thus  in  nature,  but  that  the  demands  of  the 
soul  in  its  own   right  have  equal  claim.     Hence, 
therefore,  the  moral  integrity  of  the  universe  is 

3lsa.  6:3. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  287 

likewise  guaranteed  by  Him.  It  was  in  this  con- 
nection that  Kant  declared  freedom,  immortality 
and  God  as  necessary  postulates  of  all  moral 
theory  to  save  ethics  from  collapse.  There  must 
be  an  immutable  power  of  sovereign  authority 
to  guarantee  that  the  moral  order  shall  not  fail, 
but  that  its  laws  shall  be  fulfilled  in  every  detail. 
Here  then  is  the  assurance  and  confidence  of  all 
men,  for  without  the  postulate  of  a  just  and 
steadfast  Executive  back  of  the  world,  there  could 
be  no  guarantee  that  the  moral  law  could  be  relied 
upon  in  this  or  any  other  life.  The  triumph  of 
the  good-will,  therefore,  is  secure;  and  to  love  God 
with  all  our  hearts,  minds  and  strength  is  our  first 
duty.  This  whole-souled  love  is  the  one  perfec- 
tion of  which  men  are  capable.  And  over  against 
this  we  have  the  assurance  that  God  loves  us  per- 
fectly. In  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  therefore,  it 
must  follow  as  the  night  the  day  that,  "  All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  to 
them  who  are  the  called  according  to  his  pur- 
pose." ^ 

Assurance  in  the  moral  integrity  of  the  uni- 
verse, belief  and  confidence  in  God,  never  found  in 
all  history  a  more  lofty  and  grand  expression  than 
in  the  words  of  the  great  Socrates  to  his  friends 
when  they  had  gathered  in  his  prison  room  on  the 
morning  of  his  execution.  Having  shown  to  them 
how  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  accept  their  prof- 
fered suggestion  to  help  him  evade  the  fatal  sen- 

*Rom.  8:28. 


288  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

tence  of  death,  he  said  in  substance :  "  I  am  go- 
ing hence ;  you  are  to  remain ;  —  and  who  shall 
say  which  is  going  to  the  better  part."  And  then 
lifting  himself  up  to  the  full  stature  of  his  great 
soul,  he  uttered  the  profound  sentiment :  "  As 
for  me,  I  am  persuaded  that  no  real  harm  can 
befall  a  truly  good  man."  What  heroic  expres- 
sion of  sublime  faith  is  this !  No  harm  can  come 
to  the  good ;  you  may  kill  the  body,  but  can  not 
touch  the  soul.  The  heart  of  the  world  is  true 
and  righteous  altogether.  God  worketh  hitherto, 
and  worketh  forevermore.  A  more  complete  and 
profound  trust  in  the  fundamental  goodness  of  the 
world  is  unthinkable.  Even  Christ  himself,  in  his 
recorded  words,  gives  utterance  to  no  greater  con- 
fidence or  sublimer  faith.  Yielding  to  sin  will 
break  us  off  from  the  source  of  real  power,  and 
therefore  from  true  success.  All  real  human  mas- 
tery depends  ultimately  upon  righteousness  and 
the  laws  of  God.     "  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 

Worship,  however,  may  be  mere  reverential 
homage  and  awe,  inspired  either  by  fear  or  love  of 
God;  or  it  may  combine  with  these  a  filial  trust 
and  confidence  in  the  power  and  laws  of  the  divine. 
Dr.  Storrs  writes :  "  In  church,  cottage,  college, 
camp,  on  sea  or  land,  around  the  world,  wherever 
is  adoring  affection  and  trust  towards  Him  on 
high  expressed  by  the  aspiring  spirit,  there  is  true 
worship."  ^  The  essence  of  the  notion  is  found  in 
the  composition  of  the  word  itself,  wortliyship, 
|5  "  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  IV,  p.  125. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  289 

signifying  that  the  object  worshiped  is  worthy  of 
it.  As  here  used,  it  is  not  confined  to  a  passive 
recognition  of  the  power  and  goodness  of  God, 
but  extended  to  the  active  living  according  to  His 
laws  as  the  only  secure  principles  of  life  and  be- 
ing. We  must  serve  God  only,  because  He  alone 
can  administer  to  our  fundamental  needs.  God's 
will  is  the  law  of  the  world,  and  to  love  and  do  His 
will  is  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  limitless  forces  of 
the  universe. 

In  relation  to  this  temptation  of  Christ,  to 
serve  God  only,  meant  a  turning  away  from  all 
vain  and  selfish  ambition  to  a  life  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Having 
thoroughly  comprehended  the  meaning  and  impli- 
cations of  this,  he  could  not  yield  himself  to  the 
narrower  sphere  of  earthly  sovereignty.  Instead 
of  a  temporal  kingdom,  his  must  be  a  universal; 
and  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  universal  sov- 
ereignty could  be  founded  only  upon  the  universal 
moral  law.  The  perennial  truths  of  God  must  be 
the  corner-stones  of  his  government.  His  must  be 
a  kingdom  of  righteousness,  and  hence  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom.  All  nations  and  all  worlds  were 
involved  in  it.  With  this  mark  of  high  calling 
before  him,  he  turned  away  from  the  temptation, 
not  reluctantly,  but  with  resolute  determination. 
Instead  of  the  sword,  his  scepter  of  power  became 
love  and  sacrifice.  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from 
the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  ^ 
est.  John  13:32. 


r 


290  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

Furthermore,  the  price  of  treason  to  the  king- 
dom of  God  would  have  been  disaster.  Evil  and 
wickedness  must  come  to  their  logical  end,  and  the 
wages  of  sin  is  death.  This  law  is  also  absolute ; 
consequently,  although  a  man  may  win  a  few  pal- 
try advantages  by  falsely  dealing  with  his  fellow- 
men,  yet  at  what  unspeakable  loss !  By  dishon- 
esty he  may  gain  more  gold,  but  has  bartered 
therefor  the  integrity  of  his  soul.  Nothing  the 
world  affords  is  worth  such  price.  Had  he  en- 
tered upon  such  evil  career,  Christ  must,  of  neces- 
sit}^,  have  come  to  grief  sooner  or  later.  In  re- 
nouncing the  evil  course,  therefore,  he  laid  down 
the  true  law  of  life.  We  may  win  a  kingdom,  but 
if  it  be  by  foul  means,  we  have  lost  all.  **  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  lose  his  own  soul?"^  From  wicked  debts 
come  sore  regrets.  Lord  Wolsey  cries  in  the  time 
of  his  downfall : 

My  robe,  and  my  integrity  to  heaven, 

Is  all  I  dare  now  call  mine  own. 

O  Cromwell,  Cromwell,  had  I  served  my  God 

With  half  the  zeal  I  served  my  king, 

He  would  not  in  mine  age 

Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies."  * 

Honesty  is  said  to  be  the  best  policy,  and  so  it 
is,  however  considered;  and  yet  he  who  is  honest 
only  for  policy's  sake  is  not  strictly  or  morally 

7  St.  Mark  8:36. 

8  "  Henry  VIII,"  Act  III,  Scene  2. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  291 

honest  at  all.     Genuineness  alone  is  sufficient  unto 
the  kingdom  of  God.     Be  sure  your  sin  will  find 
you  out.     Men  cease  to  fear  if  they  can  but  es- 
cape the  wrath  and  laws  of  men ;  but  even  though 
they  escape  these,  they  can  not  evade  God's  great 
law  of  retribution.     What  a  man  sows  that  shall 
he  reap,  in  this  or  in  any  other  world.     He  will 
be  overtaken  sooner  or  later,  and  his  account  will 
be    balanced.     Corruption    wins    not    more    than 
honesty.      "  Fling  away  ambition ;  by  that  sin  fell 
the  angels.     Be  just,  and  fear  not;  if  then  you 
fall,  your  fall  is  blessed  martyrdom."     Had  Christ 
deserted  the  kingdom  of  God  for  worldly  glory, 
final  disaster  would  have  been  certain.     He  would 
thereby  have  severed  himself  from  all  the  leverage 
of  power,   and  his   career  would  have   fallen  into 
eclipse.     Genuine  life  and  success  can  come  to  him 
alone  who  makes  truth  and  God  his  end. 

Righteousness  then  alone  is  secure.  All  else 
fights  against  God  and  the  divine  law  of  the  world, 
and  therefore  is  sure  to  go  down  in  the  struggle. 
We  can  not  serve  God  and  the  mammon  of  un- 
righteousness. We  can  not  succeed  and  be  out 
of  harmony  with  the  divine  order.  The  true,  the 
beautiful  and  the  good  are  the  trinity  of  spiritual 
ideals,  and  determine  the  law  of  our  well-being. 
They  are  the  pillars  of  God's  throne.  He  who 
turns  his  face  against  them  moves  into  inevitable 
loss  and  desolation.  It  is  hard  to  kick  against 
the  pricks.  Gravity  and  God  can  not  be  resisted. 
Man  can  succeed  in  life  in  any  true  sense  only  as 


292  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

he  labors  in  harmony  with  the  constitutional  laws 
of  the  universe.  Christ,  therefore,  shows  the  only 
real  way  to  final  triumph.  In  the  long  run,  the 
man  who  lives  and  acts  on  genuine  moral  princi- 
ples is  the  only  one  which  history  will  surround 
with  a  nimbus  and  place  in  the  pantheon  of  immor- 
tals. Moses  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Phara- 
oh's daughter,  although  as  such,  circumstances 
might  have  made  him  king  of  the  then  greatest 
empire  in  the  world.  Had  he  become  a  Pharaoh  of 
Egypt,  he  would  have  passed  into  oblivion,  as  have 
they ;  but  as  suffering  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God,  he  wrote  his  name  high  on  the  honor  roll  of 
fame  as  a  great  king  of  righteousness.  In  poli- 
tics, as  in  everything  else,  true  attainment  can  be 
reached  only  by  way  of  honor  and  godliness. 
Nero  may  be  crowned,  while  Stephen  is  stoned  to 
death ;  Pilate  may  reign,  while  Christ  is  crucified ; 
but  Stephen  and  Christ  alone  are  enthroned  in  hu- 
man hearts  forever. 

It  is,  then,  a  pitiable  spectacle  that  men  will 
sacrifice  all  that  is  dear  in  life  for  a  bauble ;  will 
sell  themselves  to  gain  a  shabby  crown ;  will  re- 
nounce all  that  is  worth  while  for  a  petty  office. 
They  die  to  win  an  empty  name ;  they  have  suf- 
fered imprisonment,  ostracism,  shame,  for  unholy 
ambition ;  these  are  their  reward,  their  kingdom, 
their  crown.  Christ  gave  the  only  answer  to  un- 
righteous ambition ;  his  is  the  everlasting  rebuke 
to  over-vaulting  selfishness.  He  that  will  be  the 
greatest,  let  him  become  the  servant  of  all.     Pub- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  293 

lie  office  is  a  public  trust,  and  service  is  the  meas- 
ure of  the  man.  Christ  was  able  to  look  beyond 
the  span  of  time,  and  see  the  meaning  of  life's 
consummation ;  he  viewed  things  with  sane  and 
just  perspective.  Hence,  even  on  the  mountain, 
before  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  he  equitably 
rendered  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  were  Csesar's, 
and  unto  God  the  things  that  were  God's.  To 
have  gained  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  would  have 
meant  a  course  of  desolation  and  death ;  he  would 
have  had  to  become  the  personified  destroyer. 
The  straight  and  narrow  way  he  resolved  to  tread 
precluded  the  possibility  of  his  being  the  sovereign 
of  the  world.  He  could  not  even  ascend  the  throne 
of  Solomon  and  David.  The  rigor  of  his  stead- 
fast way  did  not  please  the  fickle  people ;  his  reign 
was  too  rational  and  moral.  If  he  would  gain 
ascendency  over  thrones,  he  must  serve  the  devil. 
But  what  we  sow  we  reap,  and  righteousness  will 
ultimately  come  into  its  own.  Christ  chose  to 
serve  God  instead,  and  in  so  doing  the  world  has 
crowned  him  lord  of  all. 

The  temptation  of  sovereignty  surpasses  all 
others.  It  blinds  men  to  evil  consequences,  and 
impels  them  to  sin  and  crime.  They  strive  for 
the  goal,  even  though  it  rob  them  of  every  happi- 
ness. Milton  puts  the  thought  in  the  words  of 
Satan : 

"  To  reign  is  worth  ambition  though  in  hell ; 
Better  to  reign  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven."  ® 

9  "Paradise  Lost." 


294  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

We  have,  therefore,  a  strange  antithesis :  peace 
cannot  reign  in  our  hearts  so  long  as  therein  dwells 
ambition ;  yet  to  fling  away  ambition  is  to  impov- 
erish the  motive-springs  of  life.  Uneasy  lies  the 
head  that  wears  a  crown,  and  still  less  easy  rests 
that  which  wears  it  not,  but  covets  one  beyond  its 
grasp.  The  true  goal  of  life,  therefore,  can  not 
be  reached  by  reliance  on  public  favor,  but  only 
by  inner  worth  and  personal  achievement.  Here, 
at  least,  we  may  genuinely  live. 

In  this  instance,  then,  Christ  was  tempted  at 
the  strongest  point.  But  he  turned  from  the  serv- 
ice of  the  devil  to  ally  himself  with  God  instead. 
To  have  attained  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  would 
have  been  to  him  a  transient  and  petty  matter; 
but  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness  in  the  earth  was  a  supreme  thing. 
His  steadfastly  withstanding  temptation  and 
maintaining  the  integrity  of  his  soul  exemplified 
a  moral  heroism  to  which  the  world  has  ever  given 
highest  praise.  To  have  ruled  as  sovereign  of 
kingdoms  would  have  been  small  honor  compared 
to  the  glory  that  surrounds  the  name  of  Christ. 
The  history  of  the  past  twenty  centuries  has  made 
clear  the  significance  of  this  fact.  Gradually,  but 
surely,  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  becoming 
the  kingdoms  of  lord  Christ.  And  when  we  re- 
flect, how  could  it  be  otherwise  .f*  He  has  revealed 
to  us  God  in  the  highest  conceptions  the  world 
knows,  set  before  men  the  most  faultless  morals 
they  possess,  and  made  eff^ectual  the  brotherhood 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  295 

of  man  in  mutual  benevolence  and  helpful  service. 
Nations  are  becoming  great  only  as  they  are 
Christianized.  If  any  can  offer  more  rational  and 
defensible  conceptions  of  God  and  man  than  has 
he,  the  world  expectantly  awaits  them,  and  would 
hail  them  with  gladness. 

In  ancient  times  preeminence  was  vested  in  in- 
dividual prowess,  which  was  evolved  by  personal 
combat.  It  depended  primarily  upon  physical 
might,  but  not  much  less  on  mental  alertness. 
The  hero  was  he  who  by  individual  courage, 
strength,  or  cunning  was  able  to  triumph  over  the 
adversary.  Having  successfully  met  all  opposi- 
tion, or  having  been  favored  by  fortune,  he  was 
acknowledged  by  all  as  chief. 

When  inter-tribal  conflicts  arose,  the  chief  in 
turn  naturally  became  the  leader  of  his  people 
against  their  foes ;  and  if  he  was  successful  in 
his  enterprise,  he  thereby  became  the  master  of  the 
combined  peoples,  the  vanquished  being  subjected 
or  enslaved.  Such  is  a  picture  of  the  feudal 
strifes  out  of  which  at  last  evolved  the  king,  which 
means,  as  Carlyle  maintains,  the  one  who  can.  It 
is  he  who  can  through  power  and  courage  become 
the  master  of  the  whole  that  is  the  "firsts  the 
prince.  It  is  but  natural,  therefore,  that  the  rec- 
ords of  history  have  been  written  around  the 
names  of  Alexander,  Caesar,  Napoleon,  and  the 
other  great  war-lords  of  the  past.  And  since  such 
names  have  been  regarded  as  the  symbols  of  the 
very   highest   human   achievement,   the   world   has 


296  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

crowned  them  with  the  greatest  glory  and  un- 
stinted meed  of  praise. 

It  is  likewise  true  that  this  type  of  superiority 
admits  of  more  sentient  and  spectacular  effect 
than  any  other,  and  is  calculated  to  impress  the 
untutored  mind  as  nothing  else  whatever.  It  is 
more  physical,  more  crude  and  barbarous,  and 
hence  more  worshiped  by  the  common  man.  But 
a  deeper  reason  for  this  sentiment  exists  in  the 
fact  that  the  political  welfare  of  a  people  is  sym- 
bolized in  their  sovereign.  Stable  government  is 
the  primal  condition  of  all  other  national  accom- 
plishments ;  security,  peace  and  prosperity  depend 
upon  it,  from  which  alone  enlightenment  and  all 
the  arts  of  civilization  spring.  Without  whole- 
some political  and  material  conditions  no  people 
can  rise  to  greatness.  On  the  other  hand,  intel- 
lectual mastery,  aesthetic  and  moral  superiority 
are  too  refined  and  subtle  to  be  highly  appreciated 
by  the  crude  mind,  and  so  are  degraded  to  second- 
ary consideration.  The  fruits  of  the  spirit  have 
small  chance  of  favor  in  the  popular  mind  by  the 
side  of  display  of  physical  power.  To  the  masses, 
those  things  are  most  engaging  which  may  be  seen 
with  the  eyes  and  handled  with  the  hands.  Hence 
the  honors  of  the  world  have  been  bestowed  chiefly 
upon  the  conqueror  who,  in  subjugating  or  enslav- 
ing a  nation,  gained  a  savage  dignity  which  al- 
most deified  him  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

The  impulse  in  man  for  power  and  sovereignty 
over  his  fellow-men  is  the  supremest  human  pas- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  297 

sion.  All  other  egoistic  and  selfish  ambitions  pale 
into  insignificance  beside  it.  The  labors  of  phi- 
losophers, artisans,  and  moralists  may  have  been 
more  fundamental  and  fruitful  in  the  advancement 
of  the  race  than  any  of  its  political  achievements. 
Nevertheless,  the  social,  political  and  economic  life 
of  the  people  is  the  frame-work  into  which  all 
other  worthy  accomplishments  are  built.  This  is 
basal  to  all  the  superstructure  and  adornment  of 
life.  For  this  reason  political  leadership  and  su- 
premacy have  always  been  set  higher  than  all 
other.  The  sovereign  state  is  the  embodiment  of 
the  combined  life  of  the  nation,  and  the  organic 
nature  of  society  requires  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment to  conserve  the  welfare  of  the  people.  Gov- 
ernment, therefore,  is  naturally  the  supremest 
throne  of  power. 

The  passion  for  power  and  superior  distinction 
which  are  back  of  the  temptation  of  sovereignty 
may  be  seen  in  the  fulsome  and  flattering  terms 
with  which  potentates  have  been  designated. 
Henry  VIII  first  assumed  the  title  of  highness, 
and  at  length  majesty.  The  Caesars  were  wor- 
shiped as  gods,  and  the  barbarous  despots  of 
all  ages  have  fostered  the  fiction  of  the  divine  ori- 
gin of  kings.  Here  then  we  have  the  very  acme 
of  human  infatuation.  The  supreme  glory  of 
man  is  the  crowning  day,  which  stands  as  the  ful- 
fillment of  all  human  ambition,  and  has  been  sur- 
rounded with  all  the  pomp  and  splendor  that 
could  be  devised  to  flatter  the  pride  and  vanity  of 


298  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

man.  And  the  central  sun  in  such  system  always 
lias  myriads  of  satellites,  for  men  are  ready  to  give 
allegiance  and  applause  to  that  which  they  them- 
selves covet.  This  is  a  reflex  of  the  honor  paid 
success,  no  difference  whether  it  be  obtained  by 
fair  means  or  by  foul.  The  very  worst  of  men 
will  have  their  devoted  followers  so  long  as  they 
prosper  in  their  way.  This  is  why  reformation 
is  always  so  hard  a  matter.  Once  intrenched  in 
the  places  of  power,  it  is  difficult  to  expose  iniquity 
sufficiently  to  insure  its  defeat.  There  is  an  iner- 
tia in  the  institutions  of  life  which  requires  her- 
culean labors  to  overcome. 

Because  the  temptation  to  grasp  the  sceptei 
and  to  wear  the  crown  is  regarded  as  the  supreme 
ambition  of  life,  men  have  been  the  most  cruel  and 
heartless  in  their  methods  of  attaining  that  end. 
The  conqueror  has  ridden  roughshod  over  the 
bleeding  and  dead  bodies  of  millions  of  men  in 
order  to  grasp  a  bauble  which,  when  obtained,  not 
only  robbed  them  of  all  real  peace  of  life,  but  added 
nothing  to  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  their 
fellow-men.  But  they  have  not  stopped  at  any 
perfidy  known  to  men  in  order  to  seize  this  prize 
of  human  glory.  Such  remorseless  wickedness  has 
been  celebrated  in  history  among  the  great  deeds 
of  men,  and  the  most  wanton  tyrants  now  and 
again  have  been  deified  as  the  personification  of 
all  earthly  glory.  Hence  the  very  names  of  Alex- 
ander and  Caesar  have  become  the  apotheosis  of 
worldly  dignity   and   grandeur,  as   in  kaiser  and 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  299 

czar.  This  conceit  of  majesterial  superiority 
reached  its  climax  in  the  dictum  that  the  king  can 
do  no  wrong,  with  a  Nero  exalted  as  a  god. 

But  the  temptation  of  power  likewise  prevails 
in  all  the  walks  of  life.  Men  continually  fret  out 
their  little  day  in  the  vain  quest  of  official  prefer- 
ment. It  may  cost  them  their  peace  and  joy,  but 
so  long  as  it  offers  them  seats  in  the  high  places 
they  will  continue  to  chase  the  phantom.  Thus 
do  men  walk  in  a  vain  show.  Not  that  ambition 
for  anything  good  is  wrong,  but  that  there  is  folly 
in  sacrificing  the  inner  worth  of  life  for  the  ex- 
ternal trappings  of  power.  The  fountain  head 
of  all  true  life  must  be  within. 

In  the  last  analysis,  all  forms  of  temptation 
seem  to  revert  back  to  the  self  as  the  center  of  all 
circumference.  This  is  seen  in  the  case  of  all  the 
temptations  which  we  have  been  considering. 
Thus  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  results  in 
the  never-ceasing  clamor  for  bread,  and  because  of 
this  primal  need  we  have  all  the  forms  of  greed, 
the  fear  of  want  resulting  in  the  worship  of  mam- 
mon. Also  out  of  the  good  esteem  of  the  self, 
which  is  so  necessary  a  motire-spring  to  all  worthy 
action,  there  results  the  temptation  to  selfish 
pride,  aggrandizement,  and  vainglory,  which  ar& 
the  expressions  of  egotistical  infatuation.  And 
lastly,  from  the  necessity  of  headship  in  organic 
society,  and  the  possibility  of  primacy  in  physical 
and  mental  powers,  the  temptation  of  sovereignty 
is  a  path  of  selfish  glory  above  all  others.     Here 


300  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

over-vaulting  ambition  may  cause  more  wreck  and 
ruin  than  anywhere  else,  since  its  consequences 
are  not  merely  local  and  personal,  but  national 
and  universal. 

Because  of  its  unique  character,  therefore,  pol- 
itics opens  to  men  its  own  peculiar  temptations. 
If  men  will  reach  the  full  height  of  their  ambition, 
they  will  probably  have  to  be  willing  not  to 
scruple  at  any  means  whatever.  Men  are  not 
likely  to  succeed  greatly  in  public  favor  who 
have  too  rigorous  a  sense  of  integrity  or  persist- 
ent consistency,  from  the  fact  that  there  are  al- 
ways potent  forces  of  evil  at  work  in  the  body  pol- 
itic, as  well  as  the  good ;  and  in  so  far  as  political 
preferment  depends  upon  public  suffrage,  the  man 
who  is  too  outspoken  in  his  views  and  espouses 
the  righteous  cause  unequivocally  is  sure  to  divide 
the  forces  of  society,  and  thereby  weaken  his 
chances  of  success.  A  recipe  for  popularity  is : 
Have  no  opinions,  or,  if  you  have  them,  keep  them 
discreetly  to  yourself.  It  may  often  happen, 
therefore,  in  popular  government  that  not  the 
ablest  or  most  forceful  man  will  be  the  choice  of 
the  people,  but  the  more  pliable  and  astute  one. 

Unfortunately,  the  evil  forces  of  popular  gov- 
ernment are  generally  more  active  and  militant 
than  the  good.  This  accounts  for  the  scandalous 
corruptions  of  politics,  which  have  become  a  shame 
the  world  over.  In  political  struggle,  largely  be- 
cause of  divided  forces,  the  merest  puppet  may  be 
exalted  to  office,  and  the  political  boss  and  ward- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  301 

heeler  become  the  real  power  behind  the  throne. 
To  prevent  this  the  citizenship  has  ever  to  be  alert ; 
eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty.  There  is 
no  depth  of  degradation  and  spoliation  to  which 
selfishness  has  not  been  willing  to  drag  the  na- 
tions. "  To  the  victor  belong  the  spoils  "  is  the 
watchword,  with  the  assurance  always  that  there 
are  spoils  to  obtain. 

The  complexity  of  social  Interests  makes  cor- 
ruption all  the  more  easy.  Evil  ends  are  so 
adroitly  interwoven  with  the  good  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  get  the  one  without  involving  the  other. 
Evil  men  seek  to  clothe  their  purposes  In  legal 
and  constitutional  forms,  so  as  to  give  them  the 
appearance  of  orderliness.  But  even  when  the  is- 
sue is  perfectly  clear  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
righteous  and  worthy  man  will  get  the  suffrage  of 
the  people.  It  was  Barabbas,  and  not  Christ,  who 
found  favor  with  the  mob. 

There  has  always  been  a  school  of  politics  which 
has  held  that  the  end  justifies  the  means.  Since 
any  means  that  will  reach  the  end  is  held  to  be 
justifiable,  all  kinds  of  corrupt  combinations  are 
used  by  men  to  work  their  purposes.  Time-serv- 
ers of  every  degree  are  ready  to  do  their  bidding, 
coalitions  of  all  possible  evil  forces  are  joined, 
and  the  worst  elements  even  of  opposing  parties 
are  united  to  assure  the  iniquitous  end.  Intrigues, 
conspiracies,  treasons  of  every  kind  are  entered 
into ;  citizenship  is  prostituted,  municipalities 
robbed,     iniquitous     laws     enacted,     senatorships 


302  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

bought  and  paid  for,  presidencies  stolen.  There 
is  no  infamy  at  which  such  men  will  stop.  Machi- 
avelli  is  their  patron  saint.  There  are  al- 
ways men  who,  for  personal  gain,  will  fall  down 
and  worship  the  devil. 

More  often  than  otherwise,  therefore,  men  have 
risen  to  power  by  craft  and  cunning  rather  than 
by  merit  or  worth.  The  thrones  of  power  have 
been  prizes  for  personal  rivalry,  in  the  struggle 
for  which  there  has  been  no  wickedness  too  great 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  their  ambition.  History 
is  a  record  of  strife  and  blood  rather  than  of  sci- 
ence and  morals.  The  way  of  honor  and  right- 
eousness is  too  hedged  about  for  the  average  man 
when  seeking  political  advancement.  Public  es- 
teem, on  the  other  hand,  is  too  fickle  and  unstead- 
fast  to  depend  upon.  There  is  accordingly  the 
temptation  to  connivance  and  intrigue  which 
promise  more.  Politics  makes  strange  bed-fellows. 
Success  means  that  one  must  be  all  things  to  all 
men. 

In  public  life  there  are  exceptional  temptations 
to  thievery  and  corruption.  The  public  is  imper- 
sonal, and  since  public  money  belongs  to  nobody 
in  particular,  the  easier  does  it  appear  for  un- 
principled men  to  appropriate  it  to  themselves. 
Furthermore,  they  are  more  secure  from  discov- 
ery of  their  crimes,  for  what  is  everybody's  busi- 
ness is  nobody's  business.  It  is  next  to  impossible 
for  the  people  as  a  whole  to  keep  sufficiently  in 
touch  with  public  business,  and  an  eye  on  their 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  303 

public  servants,  to  make  sure  of  the  conduct  of 
affairs.  So  complex  is  the  social  fabric  and  so 
infinite  the  details  of  public  business  that,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  men  can  have  no  clear  knowl- 
edge of  the  trickery  and  nialpractice  of  officials 
unless  they  take  the  time  for  special  investigation. 
If  the  work  be  turned  over  to  a  committee,  the  com- 
mittee may,  in  turn,  have  to  be  investigated.  Be- 
cause private  citizens  have  neither  the  time  nor 
the  ability  to  keep  close  track  of  public  deeds,  and 
because  investigation  is  sure  not  to  be  made  until 
the  matter  has  become  a  crying  scandal,  the  pub- 
lican feels  himself  securely  enough  entrenched  be- 
hind public  ignorance  and  docility  to  attempt  the 
crime,  with  the  hope  of  not  being  found  out.  And 
should  his  acts  be  brought  under  investigation,  it 
is  liable  to  be  by  his  partisan  colleagues  who,  be- 
ing perhaps  as  guilty  as  he,  proceed  to  make  his 
black  crimes  immaculate  by  a  liberal  coat  of  white- 
wash. In  this  manner  crime  becomes  organized 
and  protected. 

Temptation  to  corruption  exists  in  all  the 
spheres  of  public  life.  It  has  even  befouled  the  er- 
mine of  our  highest  courts.  At  this  very  hour 
there  is  a  profound  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  that  even  our  jurists  cannot  be  trusted. 
The  legal  profession  has  been  prostituted  to  the 
end  of  defeating  justice  instead  of  maintaining 
it.  Such  bitter  mutterings  of  resentment  have 
been  heard  at  certain  judicial  acts,  it  appears  that 
the  nation  has  been  smoldering  over  a  volcano  of 


304  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

wrath.  Our  national  destinies  are  not  yet  secure. 
So  deep-seated  and  all-inclusive  have  been  the 
germs  of  public  dishonor,  it  has  become  almost  a 
conviction  that  public  life  is  inseparable  from 
them.  For  this  reason  the  impulse  that  leads 
men  into  politics  has  been  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion, and  good  men  will  hardly  enter  the  field, 
even  when  the  exigencies  demand  it.  Unscrupu- 
lous and  corrupt  men  are  kept  in  office  by  the  suf- 
frage of  the  people  on  the  excuse  that  others  would 
do  no  better.  And  otherwise  reputable  men  sit 
by  their  firesides  in  indifference  or  disgust  rather 
than  go  to  the  polls  and  vote.  Public  indifference 
increases  the  temptation  to  corruption,  and  so  long 
as  this  spirit  prevails  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  any- 
thing better  in  politics. 

But  in  the  end  evil  men  work  their  own  destruc- 
tion. Any  advantage  gained  by  corrupt  practice 
is  temporary,  and  the  man  who  turns  from  recti- 
tude of  life  will  soon  come  to  dishonor  and  shame. 
The  good  is  the  basal  requirement  of  life,  and 
must  ultimately  prevail.  Only  noble  men  of  char- 
acter are  crowned  by  posterity,  if  not  by  their 
own  age.  The  glory  of  a  Washington  and  a  Lin- 
coln only  grows  brighter  as  the  years  go  by,  and 
all  such  have  the  undying  affection  of  their  coun- 
trymen.    They  are  the  true  heroes  of  history. 

When,  therefore,  Christ  chose  the  better  part 
by  renouncing  temptation  to  unworthy  ambition 
and  a  course  of  cruel  conquest,  to  dedicate  himself 
to  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  he 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  305 

again  exhibited  his  sane  wisdom,  and  thereby  came, 
not  only  to  a  more  enduring  honor  and  fame,  but 
also  to  the  highest  and  richest  personal  life. 
Having  denied  himself  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,"  he  has  become  the  king  of  kings  and  lord 
of  lords. 


CHAPTER  X 
LIFE  TRIUMPHANT 


"  An  apprentice  is  man  in  the  service  of  pain, 
Who,  except  as  he  suffers,  no  knowledge  can  gain.  .  .  . 
As  the  corn  only  ripens  when  watered  with  dew. 
So  through  weeping  alone  life  and  feeling  keep  true." 
Alfred  de  Musset,  "  La  Nuit  d'Octobre." 

"  Then  the  devil  leaveth  him,  and,  behold,  angels 
came  and  ministered  unto  him." 

St.  Matthew  4:  11. 

"  Two  things  fill  the  mind  with  ever  increasing 
awe  and  admiration;  the  star-lit  heavens  above,  and 
the  Moral  Law  within." 

Immanuel  Kant,  "  Works,"  Vol.  VIII,  p.  312. 

(Rosencrans  Ed.) 


CHAPTER  X 
LIFE  TRIUMPHANT 

After  Christ  had  been  buffeted  by  the  storms  of 
temptation  which  had  moved  him  to  the  depths  of 
his  soul,  but  in  each  of  which  he  had  come  off  vic- 
tor, it  is  recorded  that  there  came  into  his  mind 
and  heart  a  deep  and  abiding  peace.  "  Then  the 
devil  leaveth  him,  and  behold,  angels  came  and 
ministered  unto  him."  ^ 

The  picture  is  an  ideal  which  reveals  the  soul 
that  has  suffered  and  yet  been  triumphant.     Hav- 
ing subdued  his  passion  for  glory  and  power,  the 
vision  of  earthly  crowns  and  the  pleasures  of  sin 
for  a  season  vanished  from  him,  and  the  perils  of 
ambition  threatened  him  no  more.     Instead  of  the 
agony  of  uncertainty  and  discontent,  a  calm  seren-  , 
ity   now   filled   his    soul.     We    see   in   his    felicity  | 
the  glint  of  the  halo  that  crowns  the  life  of  moral  I 
triumph. 

After  Christ  had  overcome  almost  overwhelming 
trials  and  temptations  which  had  engulfed  him  in 
the  turbulent  disquietude  of  selfish  ambition,  hap- 
piness ensued  and  great  joy  filled  his  heart.  And 
how  true  this  is  to  life !     It  is  when  we  have  fought 

iSt.  Matt.  4:11. 

309 


310  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

our  hardest  battles  and  overcome  our  sorest  trials 
that  we  experience  our  highest  joys.  From  the 
depths  of  sorrow  and  despair  we  are  lifted  into  the 
supremest  beatitudes.  It  is  a  hard  thing  to  over- 
come sore  temptation  to  evil ;  but  it  is  a  hard 
thing  because  it  is  a  high  thing,  and  all  high  things 
are  hard  things.  But  if  it  is  a  hard  thing,  it  is 
also  a  sweet  thing.  "  Angels  ministered  unto 
him."  There  is  no  depth  of  satisfaction  like  that 
which  moral  integrity  brings ;  there  is  nothing 
that  so  thrills  the  heart  as  moral  victory.  From 
true  moral  accomplishment  peace  fills  the  heart, 
tranquillity  and  rest  come  to  the  soul.  Christ's 
larger  mission  was  to  moralize  the  world.  And 
since  righteousness  is  the  only  means  to  true  hap- 
piness, he  gave  us  the  only  rational  law  of  life. 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you ;  not  as  the  world  giveth."  ^ 

The  notion  that  angels  ministered  unto  him  is  in 
harmony  with  ancient  thought,  which  regarded  all 
such  ministrations  of  the  spirit  as  wrought  by  an- 
gels. Just  as  the  devil,  the  personification  of  evil, 
had  been  present  as  the  cause  of  all  previous  temp- 
tations, so  now,  at  his  defeat  and  withdrawal,  the 
angels,  as  the  personification  of  good,  are  at  hand 
to  console,  comfort,  and  encourage  him.  But  to 
us  the  conception  is  of  poetical,  and  not  literal, 
significance.  We  have  seen  that  there  was  no  real 
devil  at  hand  to  tempt  Christ ;  likewise  there  were 
no  real  angels  present  to  deliver  him  from  temp- 

2  St.  John  14:  2T. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  811 

tation.  These  are  but  figurative  ways  of  present- 
ing subjective  conditions  in  objective  terms.  He 
was  tempted,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  exercise  of  his 
own  inner  moral  nature ;  and  he  saved  himself  from 
evil  by  the  same  intelligent  and  moral  means.  An- 
gels, in  this  case,  are  but  the  embodiment  of  the 
spirit  of  felicity  which  possessed  him  when  he  was 
finally  delivered  from  temptation.  In  the  exceed- 
ing high  mountain,  in  view  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  and  the  glory  of  them,  by  renouncing 
worldly  ambition  and  dedicating  himself  to  the 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  Christ  was  wafted  into 
that  ecstatic  rapture  of  emotion  which  comes  to 
men  only  in  the  sublimest  moments.  His  triumph 
in  this  hour  was  greater  than  the  Caesars  ever  won ; 
for  he  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit  is  greater  than  he 
that  taketh  a  city  —  or  the  whole  world.  His 
transcendence  was  specifically  in  the  fact  of  his 
self-mastery.  His  was  the  superlative  moral  life. 
The  subject  of  angels,  in  general,  is  an  exceed- 
ingly obscure  one,  and  fraught  with  grave  diffi- 
culties. The  ancient  people  simply  assumed  their 
existence,  and  dealt  with  the  notion  as  if  they  were 
as  familiar  with  angels  as  they  were  with  their 
neighbors.  Hence,  instead  of  having  any  record 
in  holy  writ  as  to  their  genesis,  habitation,  and 
nature,  we  have  only  occasional  references  to  them, 
abruptly  introduced,  without  explanation  or  au- 
thority therefor.  The  authors  of  the  Gospels 
evidently  wrote  the  narratives  of  the  "  Tempta- 
tion "  with  the  popular  presuppositions  in  mind. 


312  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

The  exaltation  of  spirit  which  Christ  exhibited 
after  the  severe  ordeal  through  which  he  had 
passed  could  not  be  understood  by  them  in  any 
other  way.  Just  as  they  supposed  that  when  a 
man  was  lunatic  he  was  possessed  of  devils,  so, 
also,  when  there  was  exceptional  felicity  and  joy, 
he  must  be  ministered  to  by  angels.  The  supersti- 
tions of  the  age  seem  to  assume  that  man  had  no 
power  within  himself,  but  was  moved  by  spirits 
without. 

But  there  is  no  more  reason  for  thinking  that 
angels  literally  ministered  to  Christ  in  this  time  of 
his  triumph  and  happiness  than  there  was  for  be- 
lieving that  a  personal  devil  was  the  cause  of  his 
temptation.  Both  his  trial  and  his  triumph,  his 
sorrow  and  his  joy,  were  not  caused  by  agencies, 
either  good  or  bad,  outside  his  own  soul,  but  were 
only  the  consequences  of  the  natural  functions  of 
his  moral  nature,  as  is  the  case  with  all  men. 
Both  were  experiences  within.  In  the  olden  time, 
not  only  invisible  spirits,  but  even  men,  were  re- 
garded as  angels,  such  as  wrestled  with  Jacob,  and 
visited  Abram.  Whatever  was  an  agency  of  con- 
ferring favor,  of  giving  warning  or  direction,  was 
thought  of  as  angelic,  particularly  if  the  event 
had  something  of  the  mysterious  and  supernatural 
in  it.  Psychologically,  angels  are  the  creations  of 
fancy,  subjective  conditions  expressed  in  objective 
terms.  But  this  fact  in  no  wise  mars  or  dimin- 
ishes the  force  of  the  narrative,  but  in  a  literary 
way  adds  largely  to  it.     In  no  other  manner  could 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  313 

the  idea  be  made  nearly  so  forceful.  In  such 
poetic  form,  the  story  has  a  marvelous  artistic 
and  didactic  efficiency,  and  when  rationally  inter- 
preted, is  the  very  acme  of  literary  perfection. 
What  could  so  vividly  express  his  spiritual  ecstasy 
as  that  angels  ministered  unto  him.?  The  concep- 
tion embodies  all  the  mystic  feelings  that  cluster 
around  the  heavenlies.  He  was  then  on  holy 
ground.  His  experience  was  a  pre-transfigura- 
tion. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  we  are  given  no 
specific  knowledge  of  angels,  yet  perhaps  we  are 
warranted  in  thinking  of  them  as  the  disembodied 
spirits  of  the  dead.  They  were  evidently  regarded 
as  the  messengers  of  the  will  of  God.  The  spatial 
element  seems  not  to  enter  into  the  pure  spiritual ; 
and  if  we  grant  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  it 
may  be  literally  true  that  the  spirits  of  the  de- 
parted are  nearer  to  us  than  we  have  supposed. 
This  must  be  recognized  as  a  speculation  which 
cannot  be  determined.  As  to  the  possibility  of 
such  angelic  spirits  being  able  to  communicate 
with  human  beings,  it  must  be  held  that  we  have 
no  evidence  in  experience  to  confirm  it  which  is 
trustworthy,  notwithstanding  the  claims  of  so- 
called  spiritism.  It  may  be  granted,  however, 
that  there  is  no  a  priori  reason  why  such  might 
not  be  the  case.  As  a  poetical  expression  of  sen- 
timent, nothing  could  be  finer.  In  the  supreme 
crises  of  his  life,  when  tempted  to  the  depths  of 
his  soul,  and  yet  triumphant  over  all,  the  hosts 


314  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

of  those  who  had  likewise  overcome  and  "  washed 
their  robes  and  made  them  white  "  are  represented 
as  gathering  around  him,  as  on  the  minions  of 
thought,  hailing  him  with  gratulations  of  joy  and 
heavenly  fellowship.  Whatever  else  may  be  said, 
the  picture  is  true  to  life.  Having  passed  the 
crisis  of  severest  trial  and  come  to  rest  and  peace, 
there  is  a  transcendent  ecstasy  which  floods  the 
soul. 

This  superlative  experience  has  its  analogy  in 
the  case  of  every  truly  repentant  and  converted 
life.  "  All  things  are  become  new."  Christ  him- 
self thus  stands  as  the  type  of  all  who  suffer  and 
are  born  again.  His  was  the  joy  of  triumph,  the 
bliss  that  comes  from  complete  reconciliation  with 
God.  He  truly  felt  the  happiness  that  comes  to 
every  man  who  is  delivered  from  temptation.  It 
may  be  observed  also  that  in  this  conception  of 
the  angels  there  is  an  implicit  witness  to  the  uni- 
versal faith  in  immortality.  As  intelligences  they 
are  assumed  to  have  power  of  communication ;  and 
if  this  be  so,  we  cannot  say  what  bounds  may  be 
theirs.  But  the  surest  interpretation  of  the  story 
must  be  that  it  is  the  portrayal  of  the  exaltation 
of  the  soul  in  its  triumph,  painted  in  the  language 
of  poetry.  Considered  as  such,  it  is  the  true  pic- 
ture of  every  human  heart. 

The  world  is  a  great  university  of  life,  in  which 
we  are  schooled  and  disciplined  through  tempta- 
tion. We  are  developed  by  this  system  of  trial 
and   rejection,   by  the  proving  of  ourselves   and 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  SI  5 

overcoming.  In  a  way  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  ap- 
plication of  the  law  of  the  struggle  for  existence 
as  applied  to  the  moral  life.  Here,  too,  there  is 
only  a  survival  of  the  fittest.  In  a  profound  sense 
that  is  the  superior  life  which  most  successfully 
overcomes  the  greatest  difficulties,  and  through  all 
increases  in  sweetness  and  hope.  Saints  Peter  and 
Paul  both  had  to  bridle  rebellious  spirits,  but  their 
sainthood  is  the  brighter  by  way  of  contrast ;  and 
in  Christ  we  find  that  which  is  perfect. 

We  have  seen  that  sin  consists  in  our  doing  or 
being  that  which,  in  experience  or  inference  from 
experience,  we  know  to  be  wrong.  Accordingly 
sin  is  unnecessary  for  the  reason  that  it  is  known 
and  wilful.  Christ  was  the  great  master  of  the 
moral  life  in  just  this  that,  knowing  what  sin  was, 
he  freely  chose  the  good  instead.  If  tempted  as 
we  are,  and  he  must  have  been  to  have  been  tempted 
at  all,  he  nevertheless  resisted  the  temptation  and 
triumphed  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  do  we, 
by  freely  choosing  the  good.  It  is  erroneous  to 
suppose  that  such  moral  attainment  is  a  divine 
possibility  only ;  such  assumption  would  come 
from  confusing  error  with  sin.  Since  the  finite 
mind  can  never  reach  perfect  knowledge,  it  is  sure, 
now  and  again,  to  fall  into  error.  But  sin  con- 
sists only  in  the  known  evil,  freely  chosen  and 
acted  upon.  But  whatever  may  be  freely  chosen 
may  likewise  be  freely  rejected.  Sin,  therefore, 
is  a  gratuitous  and  needless  thing.  Christ  stands 
at  the  acme  of  all  moral  perfection  for  this  very 


316  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

reason,  that  he  was  tempted  and  tried  in  all  things 
like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin. 

In  a  world  of  moral  conditions,  that  is,  of  free- 
dom, in  which  we  must  make  our  way  by  trial  and 
rejection,  temptation  may  be  said  to  serve  an  in- 
dispensable function.     It  is  not  even  conceivable 
that  our  nature  as  ethical  could  be  developed  at 
all  without  the  exercise  of  this  moral  potentiality. 
It  is  a  striking  fact  that  in  the  whole  round  of  our 
experience   we   meet   with   pronounced   antitheses. 
Thus  we  find  ourselves  capable  of  both  the  true 
and  the  false,  the  beautiful  and  the  ugly,  the  good 
and  the  bad.     The  moral  and  the  immoral  in  hu- 
man life,  therefore,  are  only  one  of  the  contradic- 
tory possibilities  of  our  nature.     And  without  this 
dual  possibility,  in  the  operations  of  our  will,  we 
would  not  be  moral  at  all.     Furthermore,  we  come 
to  appreciation  of  experiences  only  by  way  of  con- 
trast ;  we  value  the  true  all  the  more  in  view  of 
the  false;  the  beautiful  is  all  the  more  beautiful 
because  of  the  background  of  ugly ;  and  we  esteem 
the  good  which  shines  all  the  clearer  because  of  the 
darkness   of  evil.     The   false,  the  ugly,   the  evil, 
thus  serve  an  indispensable  function  in  our  human 
nature.     They  do  not  exist,  however,  as  ends  in 
themselves,  but  only  as  incidental  agencies  which 
serve  the  true  end.     We  may  say  then  that  evil 
exists  as  a  possibility  of  our  lives  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  overcome.     Thus  are  we  exhorted  to 
overcome  evil  with  good.     In  the  process  of  moral- 
ization  we  are  required  to  pass  through  the  ordeal 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  317 

of  temptation  and  trial  that  we  may  gain  strength 
and  stability.  We  have  found  action  to  be  the 
law  of  life,  and  moral  action  is  the  only  means  of 
moral  life.  Hence  the  good,  or  that  which  ought 
to  be,  is  ever  set  over  against  the  evil,  or  that 
which  ought  not  to  be,  as  the  spheres  in  which  our 
wills  may  freely  operate.  And  it  is  by  a  choosing 
of  the  good  and  eschewing  the  evil  that  we 
may  hope  to  come  to  happiness  and  well-being. 
Christ  in  his  temptation  thus  underwent  the  same 
discipline  of  soul  as  do  all  men,  and  became  the 
moral  ideal  of  the  world,  because  when  tried  in  all 
things  he  lived  triumphant. 

The  problem  of  evil  in  general  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  Turn  where 
we  will  and  we  are  beset  by  it.  In  nature  storms 
engulf  us,  earthquakes  destroy  us,  and  famine  and 
pestilence  decimate  us.  In  human  life  we  have  pain 
and  guilt,  which  none  escape.  Because  evil  as- 
sumes such  embracing  proportions  men  now  and 
again  have  hesitated  to  believe  in  the  good  and 
happiness,  and  souls  have  fallen  to  doubting 
whether  there  is  a  God.  Of  course,  much  of  what 
we  think  as  evil  is  such  only  in  our  thinking,  and 
not  in  the  nature  of  reality.  In  fact,  evil  in  the 
last  analysis  must  somehow  contribute  to  the 
higher  good,  and  in  this  sense  itself  become  a  good 
in  the  total  economy  of  the  world.  Thus  moral 
evil  is  the  condition  of  moral  good,  and  without 
the  possibility  of  the  one  we  could  not  have  the 
other.     Theoretically,  therefore,  evil  is  a  kind  of 


318  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

good  in  that  its  possibility  is  the  condition  of  the 
highest  of  all  good.     Its  characteristics  and  ex- 
istence imply  that  it  serves  a  goodly  purpose  in 
the  total  economy  of  the  world.     It  may  be  seri- 
ously questioned  whether  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
cosmic  evil ;  what  we  conceive  as  such  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  result  of  our  partial  view  of  what  in 
its  completest  relation  must  be  perfectly  harmoni- 
ous.    Indeed,  this  conclusion  must  be  admitted  in 
some  manner,  since  it  is  inevitably  true  that  all 
things  work  together  for  good  as  a  sum  total  in  the 
cosmic  order.     Less  than  this  would  presuppose  a 
contradiction  to  exist  in  the  nature  of  the  Absolute 
Being,  which  would  be  self-destructive.     It  is  tinily 
hard  to  show  how  objective  evil,  as  evidenced  in 
many  forms  of  disaster,  can  be  regarded  as  other 
than  such  in  connection  with  individual  welfare. 
This  in  fact  is  one  of  the  hardest  problems  finally 
to  reconcile.     How  it  can  be  an  evil  in  the  partic- 
ular experience,  and  yet  be  a  general  good  in  the 
world  economy,  is  an  apparent  moral  discrepancy. 
However,  it  is   difficult  to   say  what  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  real  good  of  the  individual.     Such 
afflictions  as  befall  us  may,  after  all,  be  for  our 
deepest  moral  enriching.     This,  we  have  seen,  is 
generally  the  case.     In  final  issue,  the  worst  that 
can  befall  us  is  death,  and  we  know  not  that  it  is 
an  evil  at   all.     As   Socrates   suggested,  we   fear 
that  of  which  we  know  nothing,  and  which  may 
really  be  but  the  opening  of  the  door  into  a  fuller 
and  immortal  life. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  319 

It  is  evident  that  our  difficulty  here  is  in  our 
way  of  looking  at  things.  If  external  conditions 
hinder  us  from  that  upon  which  we  have  set  our 
hearts,  then  we  think  of  them  as  evil,  whereas  by 
preventing  us  they  may  really  be  the  supremest 
blessings  in  disguise.  When  the  parents  correct 
the  child,  because  its  will  is  thwarted  it  thinks  of 
their  control  as  evil,  little  dreaming  that  unfailing 
love  has  prompted  them.  "  No  chastening  for  the 
present  seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous;  never- 
theless afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit 
of  righteousness  unto  them  which  are  exercised 
thereby."  ^  There  is  not  one  of  us  but  well  knows 
that  if  we  could  have  had  our  own  will  in  more 
ways  than  can  be  expressed,  we  would  long  since 
have  come  to  grief.  How  often  have  we  looked 
back  upon  many  emphatic  desires  of  our  hearts, 
which  nevertheless  we  did  not  obtain,  and  now  are 
able  to  see  that  the  very  desires  if  fulfilled  would 
have  been  our  ruin.  We  now  see  through  a 
glass  darkly.  We  know  little  what  is  best  for  us. 
Had  we  won  the  wealth  upon  which  we  had  set 
much  stake,  we  would  have  become  mean  and  sor- 
did. We  would  have  been  of  the  earth  more 
earthy.  We  would  have  more  and  more  sown 
only  to  the  flesh,  and  the  true  and  ideal  life  we 
would  have  lost  entirely.  Had  we  attained  to  the 
goal  of  the  ambition  of  which  we  have  dreamed, 
we  might  thereby  have  been  lost  to  all  the  best 
that  this  life  contains,  and  have  sold  our  souls  for 
3Heb.  12:11. 


320  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

naught.  And  what  will  a  man  give  in  exchange  for 
his  soul  ?  Who  can  say  what  the  true  or  absolute 
good  for  man  is?  The  end  is  hidden  from  our 
view,  and  men  are  often  deluded  to  suppose  the 
most  worthless  things  to  be  worthy  of  their  en- 
deavor. It  is  well  that  our  lives  are  in  God's 
hands.  Love  worketh  no  ill,  and  God  is  Love. 
It  falls  out,  therefore,  that  all  things  may  literally 
work  together  for  good  to  them  who  love  God,  and 
are  the  called  according  to  His  purpose. 

But  the  problem  transcends  the  limit  of  the  in- 
dividual good  and  becomes  a  universal  interest. 
And  it  is  in  this  higher  realm  of  thought  that  we 
find  a  necessary  reconciliation.  Here  the  issue  is 
not  what  our  hearts  may  desire,  but  what  reason 
demands.  If  it  is  hard  to  properly  relate  the 
problem  of  evil  in  human  experience,  it  is  even 
more  of  a  puzzle  to  reconcile  it  with  the  goodness 
of  God.  On  the  one  hand  evil  cannot  be  denied 
as  an  experiential  fact  and  accordingly  must  be 
inherent  in  the  system  and  nature  of  things.  Evil 
cannot  be  conceived  as  something  extraneous.  All 
things  whatever  must  be  involved  ultimately  in  the 
unity  of  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  when  evil 
is  once  admitted  into  the  system  of  things  it  is  not 
easy  to  reconcile  it  with  the  necessary  perfection 
of  God.  Yet  such  perfection  is  necessary  in  the 
conception  of  the  Absolute  Reality.  Even  though 
we  dispense  with  cosmic  evil,  yet  moral  evil  remains 
as  a  fact  to  be  dealt  with.  We  have  already  seen 
that  man  as  a  developing  moral  being  requires  the 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  321 

very  elements  of  trial  and  discipline  which  are 
given  in  life  as  we  find  it,  and  it  is  by  these  means 
that  his  powers  are  unfolded  and  that  he  comes 
to  the  highest  civilization.  It  may  be  urged, 
therefore,  that  it  is  a  more  perfect  work  on  the 
part  of  God  that  He  has  made  man  capable  of 
morality, —  that  is,  with  the  potentiality  for  evil 
as  well  as  good, —  than  to  have  created  him  un- 
moral. Anything  to  the  contrary  is  delusive  fancy 
only.  Man  as  a  moral  being  is  certainly  far  su- 
perior to  any  mere  automaton.  Any  necessitarian 
conception  of  man  makes  him  to  be  a  machine, 
and  precludes  all  ethical  qualities  whatever.  It 
is  as  moral  that  man  most  partakes  of  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God.  Morality,  to  be  sure,  im- 
plies the  possibility  of  immorality,  but  even  im- 
morality is  of  a  higher  state  of  being  by  far  than 
simple  unmorality.  The  unmoral  presupposes  the 
impossibility  of  moral  activity,  which  is  found  in 
the  nature  of  brutes  or  inanimate  existence.  Thus 
man,  even  as  a  sinful  creature,  transcends  all  other 
finite  existence. 

Moral  evil,  therefore,  which  is  the  only  kind  for 
which  man  is  at  all  responsible,  must  be  located 
in  his  free  intelligence.  But  it  is  evident  that  even, 
this  does  not  finally  dispose  of  the  problem,  for 
God  created  man  with  his  given  constitution  and 
possibilities,  so  that  He  remains  yet  responsible 
for  at  least  the  conditions  of  evil  in  man.  But 
here,  however,  it  is  possible  to  say  that  although 
God  created  man  with  moral  freedom,  capable  of 


S2^  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

both  good  and  evil,  He  nevertheless  intended  neces- 
sarily the  exercise  of  this  freedom  in  the  interest 
of  the  good.  Granting  freedom  to  man,  this  raises 
him  to  the  highest  dignity  that  was  possible  for 
God  to  confer  upon  him,  for  then  he  becomes  like 
God,  knowing  both  good  and  evil,  and  with  the 
power  freely  to  do  either  according  as  he  will. 
If  God  would  create  man  at  all,  His  very  perfec- 
tion implies  this  highest  possibility  in  man.  How 
freedom  in  man  is  possible  we  can  no  more  say 
than  how  it  is  possible  in  God,  where  its  possibility 
is  necessary  to  His  perfection.  But  the  moral  re- 
sponsibility for  evil  in  man  cannot  rest  back  upon 
God  in  a  final  moral  sense,  because  He  conferred 
upon  man  freedom,  not  for  the  purpose  of  evil, 
but  as  the  only  possible  means  of  establishing  the 
morally  good.  Moral  evil  is  but  a  possibility,  not 
a  necessity. 

We  grant  that  at  this  point  there  is  a  great  puz- 
zle. How  to  reconcile  our  certain  dependence 
upon  the  Infinite  with  our  relative  independence 
is  a  grave  difficulty.  On  the  one  hand,  we  realize 
that  it  is  in  God  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being;  on  the  other,  we  are  conscious  of  real  per- 
sonality of  our  own.  Moral  responsibility  is  one 
of  the  most  patent  facts  of  our  lives,  yet  this 
would  be  impossible  without  personal  freedom. 
The  solution  of  the  difficulty  must  be  found  in  the 
nature  of  freedom  itself,  which  must  be  regarded 
as  real,  however  man  may  have  attained  it.  Free- 
dom may  be  held  to  be  a  mystery  beyond  our  com- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  323 

prehension,  and  yet  to  admit  it  is  our  only  rational 
alternative ;  for  if  there  were  no  freedom,  there 
could  be  no  moral  responsibility,  and  so  no  good 
and  no  bad.  Granting  the  fact  of  moral  evil,  man 
must  be  morally  independent  at  least,  otherwise 
God  Himself  would  have  to  be  directly  responsible 
for  it,  which  cannot  be  admitted.  The  solution 
of  the  difficulty  is  found  in  the  nature  of  moral 
freedom,  which  must  be  regarded  as  real,  however 
man  attains  to  it. 

The  notion  that  evil  is  in  the  nature  of  God 
would  be  contradictory  to  His  absolute  perfec- 
tion. And  because  perfection  excludes  the  notion 
of  evil,  it  has  been  held  that  morality  does  not  be- 
long to  God  at  all.  But  we  submit  that  perfection 
does  not  exclude  the  possibility  of  evil  as  well  as 
good;  on  the  contrary,  the  lack  of  just  this  pos- 
sibility in  God  would  reduce  perfection  to  the  im- 
perfect; for  God  the  Absolute  must  have  all  pos- 
sibilities which  are  given  in  the  range  of  experience, 
and  hence  to  lack  in  the  potentiality  of  evil  as  well 
as  the  good  would  itself  be  an  imperfection.  Nev- 
ertheless, for  God  to  exercise  this  potentiality  for 
evil  would  itself  be  evil,  and  so  degrade  Him  to 
imperfection.  The  perfect,  therefore,  must  con- 
sist in  the  free  determination  of  the  good  as  over 
against  the  possibility  of  the  evil ;  the  freely  doing 
the  one,  with  full  power  to  have  done  the  other. 
Less  than  this  would  be  moral  imperfection.  It 
is  in  the  nature  of  God  that  we  find  the  supreme 
and  perfect  morality;  and  the  notion  that,  when 


SM  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

morality  is  carried  up  into  the  nature  of  the  Ab- 
solute, it  is  no  more  morality,  does  not  stand  the 
test  of  analysis.*  ^ 

Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of  the  concep- 
tion, therefore,  morality  must  be  regarded  as  an 
attribute  of  God,  in  order  to  save  His  perfection 
from  degradation.  The  good,  as  the  realized  end 
of  the  perfected  will,  indeed,  can  be  found  nowhere 
else.  The  good,  of  course,  is  not  the  only  attri- 
bute of  God,  but  is  a  quality  infinite  and  eternal 
as  all  others.  The  good,  however,  as  a  quality, 
implies  the  good  in  being,  and  only  in  this  sense 
can  anything  be  said  to  be  good.  If  it  be  sug- 
gested that  potentiality  for  evil  without  actuality 
is  impossible,  the  answer  would  be  that  moral  per- 
fection, in  that  case,  would  be  an  impossibility. 
It  is  in  the  nature  of  freedom  that  just  this  poten- 
tiality must  exist,  and  in  the  perfection  of  God 
only  the  good  may  be  actualized.  As  God  is  Wis- 
dom, and  God  is  Love,  so  likewise  God  is  Good. 

Moral  evil,  therefore,  must  find  its  grounds  in 
the  ethical  constitution  of  man.  Hence  in  prac- 
tical life  we  must  bring  ourselves  into  moral  devel- 
opment by  being  tempted  and  tried.  Judgments 
of  approval  and  disapproval  must  be  exercised 
in  relation  to  all  human  conduct.  Moral  satis- 
faction can  be  realized  only  from  such  courses  of 
action  as  find  conscientious  approval ;  less  than 
this  meets  with  disapproval,  accompanied  with  a 
sense  of  failure,  loss,  and  unhappiness.     On  the 

4  Cf .  Bradley :  "  Appearance  and  Reality,"  Ch.  17. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  325 

other  hand,  when  we  are  able  to  approve  our  con- 
duct there  is  a  sense  of  harmony  and  happiness, 
which  are  the  moral  ends  we  seek.  Practical  life 
everywhere  exhibits  moral  responsibility. 

Because  capable  of  both  good  and  evil,  the  soul 
of  man  is  a  battle-field  for  what  he  feels  to  be  two 
deadly  hostile  forces.  Surrender  to  evil  results 
in  irretrievable  loss ;  by  overcoming  evil,  and  at- 
taining positive  righteousness,  we  win  enduring 
strength.  This  is  because  goodness  is  grounded 
in  the  constitution  and  order  of  things.  The 
world  makes  for  righteousness,  and  demands  obe- 
dience to  its  laws.  Such  obedience  makes  for  uni- 
versal welfare ;  but  violation  of  its  laws  is  met  with 
infallible  requital.  God  is  on  the  side  of  the  right, 
and  whoever  espouses  the  evil  and  wrong,  fights 
against  God,  and  the  battle  is  lost  from  the  be- 
ginning. The  practical  difficulty  is,  however,  that 
the  laws  of  life  and  the  world  are  unknown  to  us 
in  the  beginning ;  we  can  only  gradually  learn  them, 
and  at  best  can  only  imperfectly  determine  them. 
Our  moral  unfolding,  accordingly,  is  dependent 
upon  our  intellectual  acquirements.  The  two  go 
side  by  side,  and  the  successful  conduct  of  life 
depends  upon  the  enriching  of  both  in  accordance 
with  our  needs. 

Growing  out  of  the  moral  struggle  between 
good  and  evil,  men  variously  relate  themselves  to 
the  world.  Some  are  minded  to  gladly  and  joy- 
ously accept  it  as  they  find  it ;  they  never  question 
its  inner  beneficence,  and  are  in  perfect  harmony 


326  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

with  its  order.  To  such,  God  is  in  the  heavens, 
and  all  is  right  with  the  world.  To  such  serene 
and  fortunate  minds  there  are  only  peace  and  tran- 
quillity ;  rebellion  and  struggle  are  unknown  to 
them.  On  the  contrary,  others  so  relate  them- 
selves to  the  world  as  to  be  in  constant  conflict 
with  it ;  accordingly,  they  are  in  constant  discord 
and  unhappiness.  To  them  the  world  is  askew 
and  all  things  wrong;  they  live  in  a  turmoil,  and 
life  is  an  incessant  struggle.  They  have  a  stand- 
ing quarrel  with  the  universe,  in  which  they  al- 
ways come  off  the  worse.  Real  happiness  such 
souls  can  never  know.  Optimism  and  pessimism, 
like  good  and  evil,  are  the  antithetical  possibilities 
of  the  moral  nature.  But  the  world-order  will 
not  be  changed,  and  if  we  are  to  And  peace,  we 
ourselves  must  be  brought  into  harmony  with  it. 
Happiness  can  be  reached  only  by  reconciliation 
with  God  and  the  world. 

Morally  constituted  as  we  are,  triumphant  life 
implies  the  overcoming  of  evil  by  doing  good. 
But  as  we  reach  the  truth  only  through  error,  so 
likewise  in  the  moral  life  we  learn  the  good  only 
through  experience  of  evil,  and  come  to  the  morali- 
zation  of  life  only  gradually.  Evil  is  the  moral 
obstacle,  the  overcoming  of  which  makes  men 
strong.  And  the  law  of  mental  acquisition  is  such 
that  what  at  first  we  are  able  to  do  only  with  great- 
est effort,  by  persistent  repetition  becomes  auto- 
matic, so  that  we  are  able  to  do  it  with  utmost 
ease.     Moral  conduct  in  this  way  becomes  a  re- 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  327 

flexive  habit,  accomplished  almost  involuntarily. 
The  impulses  of  mind  and  heart  thus  tend  to  be- 
come fixed  as  we  develop  into  settled  character. 
Both  intellectual  and  moral  efficiency  are  accom- 
plished by  long  sustained  endeavor.  By  over- 
coming the  present  difficulty  we  are  made  stronger 
to  cope  with  the  next ;  and  by  patience  and  per- 
sistence in  well-doing,  we  are  able  to  bring  our 
lives  under  subjection.  Habit  thus  becomes  one 
of  the  most  powerful  facts  of  our  lives,  and  by  it 
we  become  confirmed  in  one  practice  or  another, 
either  good  or  evil.  Repetition  is  one  of  the  most 
basal  principles  of  discipline,  and  in  due  season 
we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not.  Freedom  may  serve 
to  exalt  our  lives,  or  debase  them,  according  as 
we  may  direct.  Our  moral  selves  are  not  some- 
thing given,  but  a  goal  to  be  attained.  As  Amiel 
observed :  "  We  are  only  candidates  for  human- 
ity." 

As  developing  creatures,  our  lives  only  gradu- 
ally attain  to  unity  and  reconciliation.  Both 
physically  and  mentally  we  begin  life  only  poten- 
tially, and  only  very  gradually  acquire  positive 
power  and  content.  To  begin  with,  we  have  no 
perfection  whatever,  and  never  can  have,  except 
as  we  actually  grow  up  to  it  by  long  continued  en- 
deavor. From  this  fact,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  men  find  themselves  out  of  harmony  with 
the  world,  and  result  in  failure.  Our  first  efforts 
are  so  crude  and  imperfect  in  every  way  that  we 
are  liable  to  become  discouraged  with  ourselves. 


328  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

Because  of  our  own  shortcomings,  the  world  itself 
seems  to  be  all  wrong;  for  our  impotencies  and 
frailties  we  are  disposed  to  blame  the  world,  rather 
than  ourselves.  Man  can  reach  a  harmony  of  life 
only  as  he  gradually  gains  a  mastery  of  himself; 
and  when  he  attains  such  discipline  of  his  powers, 
the  world,  instead  of  appearing  evil  and  ill  to  him, 
will  appear  beneficent  and  good.  The  forces  and 
laws  of  life  and  the  world,  instead  of  being  hin- 
drances, then,  like  resisting  water  to  the  oars,  be- 
come the  real  means  of  progress.  The  process  of 
man's  reconciliation  with  the  world,  therefore,  is 
primarily  an  overcoming  of  himself ;  or  rather,  a 
developing  of  himself  up  to  efficiency.  The  aspect 
we  have  of  the  world  depends  upon  what  we  our- 
selves are.  We  read  ourselves  into  the  world ;  if 
we  are  weak  and  evil,  the  world  appears  the  same. 
When  we  ourselves  are  strong  and  masterful,  the 
world  will  appear  as  our  friend  and  helper,  and 
the  statutes  of  God  as  true  and  righteous  alto- 
gether. 

In  religion  the  process  of  reconciliation  is  con- 
ceived as  regeneration.  According  to  Professor 
William  James,  conversion  is  "  the  process,  grad- 
ual or  sudden,  by  which  a  self  hitherto  divided, 
and  consciously  wrong,  inferior,  and  unhappy, 
becomes  unified  and  consciously  right,  superior, 
and  happy  in  consequence  of  its  firmer  hold  upon 
religious  realities."  ^  This  transformation  may 
come  through  altered  powers  of  feeling  or  action, 

5  "  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,"  Lect.  X,  p.  189. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  329 

or  through  new  intellectual  insight,  or  through 
so-called  mystical  experiences.  But  in  whatever 
way  it  may  come,  it  often  easily,  permanently, 
and  successfully  changes  the  most  intolerable  mis- 
ery into  the  most  enduring  happiness.^ 

Conversion  represents  the  crisis  in  the  history 
of  a  soul  in  its  endeavor  to  become  reconciled  and 
harmonized  with  the  world.  Such  souls  as  have 
been  the  more  rebellious  and  resisted  the  hardest 
must  naturally  undergo  the  more  tragic  experi- 
ence. Because  of  imperfect  development,  it  is 
probable  that  every  soul  will  sooner  or  later  pass 
through  some  such  crisis.  Only  in  the  most  pro- 
nounced cases  of  sinfulness,  however,  will  the  trans- 
formation be  so  outwardly  noticeable.  To  such, 
all  things  will  truly  have  become  new.  It  Is  a 
great  mistake  to  suppose  that  pure  and  virtuous 
persons,  who  have  never  known  sin  in  its  grosser 
forms,  must  pass  through  stereotyped  formulas 
of  mournful  despair  and  repentance,  like  the  worst 
of  sinners,  in  the  process  of  reconciliation  with 
God.  In  essence,  the  experience  is  the  same  in  all 
cases,  but  the  phenomena  attending  it  must  vary 
with  <;ircumstances  and  persons.  Final  happiness 
can  come  to  men,  only  in  this  way.  As  Tolstoy 
observes :  "  To  acknowledge  God  and  to  live  are 
the  same  thing."  '^ 

From  our  previous  view  of  the  moral  nature,  its 
development  is  possible  only  by  opposition.    Temp- 

QFickett:  "Twice  Born  Men." 

^  Count  Leo  Tolstoy :  "  My  Confession." 


330  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

tation  is  the  means  of  discipline.  To  the  strong 
and  masterful,  such  opposition  is  just  the  stimu- 
lus needed  to  bring  them  to  their  highest.  It  is 
said  of  Charles  Sumner  that  he  never  reached  his 
best  until  met  with  antagonism,  when,  like  the  lion 
aroused  from  its  lair,  he  shook  himself  and  spoke 
defiance.  Possible  evil,  temptation,  and  trials  stir 
strong  men  to  their  highest  endeavor,  and  disci- 
pline weak  men  for  strongest  resistance.  Moral 
discipline  is  the  function  which  temptation 
serves,  and  accordingly  is  an  instrument  of 
life's  enriching.  Triumph  over  temptation  lifts 
us  up  into  a  new  world,  and  more  joyous  grows 
the  way  as  we  press  toward  the  mark  of  our 
high  calling.  To  the  morally  undeveloped  and  im- 
perfect there  must  ever  be  a  certain  sense  of  fail- 
ure. Confidence  can  only  come  gradually,  as  men 
achieve  a  relative  power  of  rational  and  moral 
activity,  and  thereby  reconcile  themselves  to  reality 
and  the  laws  of  life.  But  there  must  necessarily 
be  many  falterings  and  failures  by  the  way,  and 
we  must  learn  to  endure  hardness.  The  moraliza- 
tion  of  life  is  a  process  of  overcoming,  and  it  is 
through  this  means  that  men  are  perfected,  recon- 
ciled, and  harmonized  with  the  world. 

But  it  is  the  tuitional  character  of  life  that 
gives  it  its  zest  and  perennial  interest.  We  shall 
always  have  soulful  tasks  to  perform,  and  worthy 
ends  to  win.  And  without  them,  it  is  inconceivable 
how  life  would  be  worth  living.     It  is  in  life's  work 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  331 

that  we  find  life's  happiness.  Life  is  a  contest,  a 
struggle,  a  race.  "  Wherefore  seeing  we  also 
are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses, let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin 
which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with 
patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us."  ^  We 
are  morally  requited  according  to  the  motives  that 
determine  our  actions,  and  St.  James  declares  that : 
"  Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet 
offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all."  ^  That 
is,  the  moral  nature  is  a  unit,  and  if  we  turn  from  I 
the  good-will  to  the  evil  in  the  least  thing,  we  enter  I 
upon  the  law  of  immoral  action,  which  implies  the 
greatest  as  well.  Who  steals  a  penny  will  steal 
a  pound.  If  we  violate  the  law  of  morality,  we 
violate  the  whole  moral  nature.  The  sinner  is  like 
a  planet  out  of  its  orbit,  which  crashes  lawlessly 
through  space.  Lack  of  moral  integrity  in  the 
least  thing  may  lead  to  ruin.  "  The  wages  of  sin 
is  death." 

In  the  sifting  process  that  goes  on  in  life's  moral- 
ization  it  is  good  to  know  that  all  may  come  off 
triumphant,  and  yet  it  is  a  baleful  thing  to  con- 
template that  all  likewise  may  meet  with  defeat. 
By  freedom,  we  have  in  our  hands  our  own  moral 
destiny.  Like  Hercules,  we  are  at  the  cross-roads. 
It  is  for  us  to  choose  what  course  we  will  pursue, 
and  according  as  we  choose,  we  are  infallibly  re- 

8Heb.  12:1. 

»  St.  James  2:  10. 


332  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

quited.  This  consummation  of  the  moral  life 
Christ  puts  before  us  in  the  incomparable  meta- 
phor of  the  final  judgment,  when  the  good  and  the 
evil  are  separated,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep 
from  the  goats.  To  the  good,  the  king  says : 
"  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  king- 
dom prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  " ;  and  to  the  evil,  he  commands :  "  Depart 
from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  ^^  By  these  power- 
ful figures  we  are  impressed  that  good  and  evil  can- 
not come  to  the  same  end,  and  that  the  world  makes 
for  righteousness. 

The  triumph  of  Christ  over  temptation  exempli- 
fies  the   good-will   enthroned.     His   exaltation   of 
spirit  on  the  high  mountain  was  the  resultant  glory 
of  his  moral  triumph.     It  stands  as  the  ideal  for 
our  lives,  and  points  the  only  way  to  rest  of  soul. 
Having  been  victorious  himself,  it  was  reserved  for 
Christ  also  to  pronounce  the  universal  encomium 
I  of  all  who  have  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith  and 
come  to  life  triumphant :  "  Well  done,  thou  good 
and  faithful  servant ;  thou  hast  been  faithful  over 
a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
(things ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  ^^ 
'      In  this  spirit  the  church  has  ever  sung: 

"  Therefore   with   angels   and   archangels,    and 
with  all  the  company  of  heaven,  we  laud  and  mag- 

10  St.  Matt.  25:34-41. 
list.  Matt.  25:21. 


CHRIST'S  TEMPTATION  333 

nify  Thy  glorious  name;  evermore  praising  Thee, 
and  saying,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  of  hosts, 
heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  Thy  glory ;  glory  be 
to  Thee,  O  Lord  Most  High.     Amen."  ^^ 
12  "  Prayer  Book." 


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